diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 64d565578..01f6c3236 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Development
     - make sure to read https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/core/transactions-in-applications/#callback-api-vs-core-api
     - run_in_transaction context manager relies on Pymongo coreAPI, it will retry automatically in case of `UnknownTransactionCommitResult` but not `TransientTransactionError` exceptions
     - Using .count() in a transaction will always use Collection.count_document (as estimated_document_count is not supported in transactions)
+- Fix use of $geoNear or $collStats in aggregate #2493
 - BREAKING CHANGE: Further to the deprecation warning, remove ability to use an unpacked list to `Queryset.aggregate(*pipeline)`, a plain list must be provided instead `Queryset.aggregate(pipeline)`, as it's closer to pymongo interface
 - BREAKING CHANGE: Further to the deprecation warning, remove `full_response` from `QuerySet.modify` as it wasn't supported with Pymongo 3+
 - Fixed stacklevel of many warnings (to point places emitting the warning more accurately)
diff --git a/mongoengine/queryset/base.py b/mongoengine/queryset/base.py
index a64b26168..aef996996 100644
--- a/mongoengine/queryset/base.py
+++ b/mongoengine/queryset/base.py
@@ -1350,6 +1350,14 @@ def from_json(self, json_data):
     def aggregate(self, pipeline, **kwargs):
         """Perform an aggregate function based on your queryset params
 
+        If the queryset contains a query or skip/limit/sort or if the target Document class
+        uses inheritance, this method will add steps prior to the provided pipeline in an arbitrary order.
+        This may affect the performance or outcome of the aggregation, so use it consciously.
+
+        For complex/critical pipelines, we recommended to use the aggregation framework of Pymongo directly,
+        it is available through the collection object (YourDocument._collection.aggregate) and will guarantee
+        that you have full control on the pipeline.
+
         :param pipeline: list of aggregation commands,
             see: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/core/aggregation-pipeline/
         :param kwargs: (optional) kwargs dictionary to be passed to pymongo's aggregate call
@@ -1381,7 +1389,18 @@ def aggregate(self, pipeline, **kwargs):
         if self._skip is not None:
             initial_pipeline.append({"$skip": self._skip})
 
-        final_pipeline = initial_pipeline + pipeline
+        # geoNear and collStats must be the first stages in the pipeline if present
+        first_step = []
+        new_user_pipeline = []
+        for step_step in pipeline:
+            if "$geoNear" in step_step:
+                first_step.append(step_step)
+            elif "$collStats" in step_step:
+                first_step.append(step_step)
+            else:
+                new_user_pipeline.append(step_step)
+
+        final_pipeline = first_step + initial_pipeline + new_user_pipeline
 
         collection = self._collection
         if self._read_preference is not None or self._read_concern is not None:
diff --git a/tests/queryset/test_queryset_aggregation.py b/tests/queryset/test_queryset_aggregation.py
index 15e08698f..7e390e35a 100644
--- a/tests/queryset/test_queryset_aggregation.py
+++ b/tests/queryset/test_queryset_aggregation.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import unittest
-
 import pytest
 from pymongo.read_preferences import ReadPreference
 
@@ -334,6 +332,44 @@ class Person(Document):
 
         assert list(data) == []
 
+    def test_aggregate_geo_near_used_as_initial_step_before_cls_implicit_step(self):
+        class BaseClass(Document):
+            meta = {"allow_inheritance": True}
+
+        class Aggr(BaseClass):
+            name = StringField()
+            c = PointField()
+
+        BaseClass.drop_collection()
+
+        x = Aggr(name="X", c=[10.634584, 35.8245029]).save()
+        y = Aggr(name="Y", c=[10.634584, 35.8245029]).save()
+
+        pipeline = [
+            {
+                "$geoNear": {
+                    "near": {"type": "Point", "coordinates": [10.634584, 35.8245029]},
+                    "distanceField": "c",
+                    "spherical": True,
+                }
+            }
+        ]
+        res = list(Aggr.objects.aggregate(pipeline))
+        assert res == [
+            {"_cls": "BaseClass.Aggr", "_id": x.id, "c": 0.0, "name": "X"},
+            {"_cls": "BaseClass.Aggr", "_id": y.id, "c": 0.0, "name": "Y"},
+        ]
+
+    def test_aggregate_collstats_used_as_initial_step_before_cls_implicit_step(self):
+        class SomeDoc(Document):
+            name = StringField()
+
+        SomeDoc.drop_collection()
+
+        SomeDoc(name="X").save()
+        SomeDoc(name="Y").save()
 
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    unittest.main()
+        pipeline = [{"$collStats": {"count": {}}}]
+        res = list(SomeDoc.objects.aggregate(pipeline))
+        assert len(res) == 1
+        assert res[0]["count"] == 2