Removing a readable listener now updates the readable state i.e.

readableListening, needReadable and emittedReadable are set to false.
Then, if a readable listener is added at a later time, the stream will
know none are attached and will take proper action to get the stream
going back again.

Fixes nodejs#7678

lib/_stream_readable.js

@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ Readable.prototype.on = function(ev, fn) {
           self.read(0);
         });
       } else if (state.length) {
-        emitReadable(this, state);
+        setImmediate(emitReadable.bind(null, this));
       }
     }
   }
@@ -698,6 +698,17 @@ Readable.prototype.on = function(ev, fn) {
 };
 Readable.prototype.addListener = Readable.prototype.on;
 
+Readable.prototype.removeListener = function(type, listener) {
+  Stream.prototype.removeListener.call(this, type, listener);
+
+  if (type === 'readable' && EE.listenerCount(this, type) === 0) {
+    var state = this._readableState;
+    state.readableListening = false;
+    state.emittedReadable = false;
+    state.needReadable = false;
+  }
+};
+
 // pause() and resume() are remnants of the legacy readable stream API
 // If the user uses them, then switch into old mode.
 Readable.prototype.resume = function() {

test/simple/test-stream-readable-removeListener.js

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+// copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+// persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
+// following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+// in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+// OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
+// NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+// DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
+// USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+var assert = require('assert');
+var EE = require('events').EventEmitter;
+var Readable = require('stream').Readable;
+
+var buf = new Buffer(65536);
+buf.fill(0);
+
+var packetsToPush = 10;
+var toUnshift = 16*1024;
+
+Readable.prototype._read = function() {
+  var chunk = --packetsToPush > 0 ? buf.slice() : null;
+  setImmediate(this.push.bind(this, chunk));
+}
+
+var rStream = new Readable();
+
+var first = true;
+rStream.on('readable', function onReadable() {
+  var data = rStream.read();
+  if (first) {
+    first = false;
+    rStream.removeListener('readable', onReadable);
+    assert.equal(EE.listenerCount(rStream, 'readable'), 0);
+    rStream.unshift(buf.slice(0, toUnshift));
+    rStream.on('readable', onReadable);
+  }
+});
+
+process.on('exit', function() {
+  assert.equal(packetsToPush, 0);
+});
+
+rStream.read(0);