diff --git a/src/load/load-file.lisp b/src/load/load-file.lisp
index 02ddb45..de525dc 100644
--- a/src/load/load-file.lisp
+++ b/src/load/load-file.lisp
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@
         (loop :for path-spec :in path-list
            :count t
            :do (let ((table-source (clone-copy-for copy path-spec)))
+                 (when (and (header table-source) (null (fields table-source)))
+                   (parse-header table-source))
                  (incf task-count
                        (copy-from table-source
                                   :concurrency concurrency
diff --git a/src/sources/common/api.lisp b/src/sources/common/api.lisp
index 091e3b5..d0d1a38 100644
--- a/src/sources/common/api.lisp
+++ b/src/sources/common/api.lisp
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
                 :initform nil))           ;
   (:documentation "pgloader Multiple Files Data Source (csv, fixed, copy)."))
 
-(defgeneric parse-header (md-copy header)
+(defgeneric parse-header (md-copy)
   (:documentation "Parse the file header and return a list of fields."))
 
 (defgeneric process-rows (md-copy stream process-fn)
diff --git a/src/sources/common/md-methods.lisp b/src/sources/common/md-methods.lisp
index 8694dd1..0a8eacc 100644
--- a/src/sources/common/md-methods.lisp
+++ b/src/sources/common/md-methods.lisp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 (in-package #:pgloader.sources)
 
-(defmethod parse-header ((copy md-copy) header)
+(defmethod parse-header ((copy md-copy))
   "Unsupported by default, to be implemented in each md-copy subclass."
   (error "Parsing the header of a ~s is not implemented yet." (type-of copy)))
 
@@ -59,12 +59,8 @@
      ;; about skipping the first line
       (loop :repeat (skip-lines copy) :do (read-line input nil nil))
 
-      ;; we might now have to read the fields from the header line
-      (when (header copy)
-        (setf (fields copy)
-              (parse-header copy (read-line input nil nil)))
-
-        (log-message :debug "Parsed header columns ~s" (fields copy)))
+      ;; we might now have to skip the header line
+      (when (header copy) (read-line input nil nil))
 
       ;; read in the text file, split it into columns
       (process-rows copy input process-row-fn))))
diff --git a/src/sources/csv/csv.lisp b/src/sources/csv/csv.lisp
index f58007c..4fc6495 100644
--- a/src/sources/csv/csv.lisp
+++ b/src/sources/csv/csv.lisp
@@ -57,19 +57,29 @@
 ;;;
 ;;; Read a file format in CSV format, and call given function on each line.
 ;;;
-(defmethod parse-header ((csv copy-csv) header)
+(defmethod parse-header ((csv copy-csv))
   "Parse the header line given csv setup."
   ;; a field entry is a list of field name and options
-  (mapcar #'list
-          (car                          ; parsing a single line
-           (cl-csv:read-csv header
-                            :separator (csv-separator csv)
-                            :quote (csv-quote csv)
-                            :escape (csv-escape csv)
-                            :unquoted-empty-string-is-nil t
-                            :quoted-empty-string-is-nil nil
-                            :trim-outer-whitespace (csv-trim-blanks csv)
-                            :newline (csv-newline csv)))))
+  (with-connection (cnx (source csv)
+                        :direction :input
+                        :external-format (encoding csv)
+                        :if-does-not-exist nil)
+    (let ((input (md-strm cnx)))
+      (loop :repeat (skip-lines csv) :do (read-line input nil nil))
+      (let* ((header-line (read-line input nil nil))
+             (field-name-list
+              (mapcar #'list            ; we need each field to be a list
+                      (car              ; parsing a single line
+                       (cl-csv:read-csv header-line
+                                        :separator (csv-separator csv)
+                                        :quote (csv-quote csv)
+                                        :escape (csv-escape csv)
+                                        :unquoted-empty-string-is-nil t
+                                        :quoted-empty-string-is-nil nil
+                                        :trim-outer-whitespace (csv-trim-blanks csv)
+                                        :newline (csv-newline csv))))))
+        (log-message :notice "Parsed header columns ~s" (fields csv))
+        (setf (fields csv) field-name-list )))))
 
 (defmethod process-rows ((csv copy-csv) stream process-fn)
   "Process rows from STREAM according to COPY specifications and PROCESS-FN."
diff --git a/test/csv-header.load b/test/csv-header.load
index a8b32eb..45b75de 100644
--- a/test/csv-header.load
+++ b/test/csv-header.load
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ LOAD CSV
           "repl$grpid"   text,
           "repl$id"      text,
           another        text,
-          fields         text
+          fields         integer
        )
     $$;
 
 
-somefields,rekplcode,repl$grpid,repl$id,another,fields
-a,b,c,d,e,f
-foo,bar,baz,quux,foobar,fizzbuzz
+somefields,rekplcode,repl$grpid,repl$id,fields,another
+a,b,c,d,1,e
+foo,bar,baz,quux,2,foobar
diff --git a/test/regress/expected/csv-header.out b/test/regress/expected/csv-header.out
index 512042d..71c7ec2 100644
--- a/test/regress/expected/csv-header.out
+++ b/test/regress/expected/csv-header.out
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-a	b	c	d	e	f
-foo	bar	baz	quux	foobar	fizzbuzz
+a	b	c	d	e	1
+foo	bar	baz	quux	foobar	2