diff --git a/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/CsvExternalInstance.java b/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/CsvExternalInstance.java
index 4c51ab4a3..300bfa8d4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/CsvExternalInstance.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/CsvExternalInstance.java
@@ -1,19 +1,14 @@
 package org.javarosa.core.model.instance;
 
-import org.apache.commons.csv.CSVFormat;
 import org.apache.commons.csv.CSVParser;
 import org.apache.commons.csv.CSVRecord;
-import org.apache.commons.io.input.BOMInputStream;
 import org.javarosa.core.model.data.UncastData;
 import org.javarosa.xform.parse.ExternalInstanceParser;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
-import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStreamReader;
-import java.io.Reader;
 
 public class CsvExternalInstance implements ExternalInstanceParser.FileInstanceParser {
 
@@ -21,28 +16,29 @@ public TreeElement parse(@NotNull String instanceId, @NotNull String path) throw
         final TreeElement root = new TreeElement("root", 0);
         root.setInstanceName(instanceId);
 
-        final CSVFormat csvFormat = CSVFormat.DEFAULT
-            .withDelimiter(getDelimiter(path))
-            .withFirstRecordAsHeader();
-        Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(new BOMInputStream(new FileInputStream(path)));
-        final CSVParser csvParser = new CSVParser(reader, csvFormat);
-        final String[] fieldNames = csvParser.getHeaderMap().keySet().toArray(new String[0]);
-        int multiplicity = 0;
-
-        for (CSVRecord csvRecord : csvParser.getRecords()) {
-            TreeElement item = new TreeElement("item", multiplicity);
-
-            for (int i = 0; i < fieldNames.length; ++i) {
-                TreeElement field = new TreeElement(fieldNames[i], 0);
-                field.setValue(new UncastData(i < csvRecord.size() ? csvRecord.get(i) : ""));
-                item.addChild(field);
+        try (
+            final CSVParser csvParser = new SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder()
+                .path(path)
+                .build()
+        ) {
+            final String[] fieldNames = csvParser.getHeaderMap().keySet().toArray(new String[0]);
+            int multiplicity = 0;
+
+            for (CSVRecord csvRecord : csvParser) {
+                TreeElement item = new TreeElement("item", multiplicity);
+
+                for (int i = 0; i < fieldNames.length; ++i) {
+                    TreeElement field = new TreeElement(fieldNames[i], 0);
+                    field.setValue(new UncastData(i < csvRecord.size() ? csvRecord.get(i) : ""));
+                    item.addChild(field);
+                }
+
+                root.addChild(item);
+                multiplicity++;
             }
 
-            root.addChild(item);
-            multiplicity++;
+            return root;
         }
-
-        return root;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18d004d23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/javarosa/core/model/instance/SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package org.javarosa.core.model.instance;
+
+import org.apache.commons.csv.CSVFormat;
+import org.apache.commons.csv.CSVParser;
+import org.apache.commons.io.input.BOMInputStream;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.FileReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.io.Reader;
+
+public class SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder {
+
+    private String path;
+
+    public SecondaryInstanceCSVParserBuilder path(String path) {
+        this.path = path;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public CSVParser build() throws IOException {
+        final CSVFormat csvFormat = CSVFormat.DEFAULT
+            .withDelimiter(getDelimiter(path))
+            .withFirstRecordAsHeader();
+        Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(new BOMInputStream(new FileInputStream(path)));
+        return new CSVParser(reader, csvFormat);
+    }
+
+    private static char getDelimiter(String path) throws IOException {
+        char delimiter = ',';
+        try (BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(path))) {
+            String header = reader.readLine();
+
+            if (header.contains(";")) {
+                delimiter = ';';
+            }
+        }
+        return delimiter;
+    }
+}