diff --git a/doc/stages/readers.text.rst b/doc/stages/readers.text.rst
index a182934018..7da37d6f2c 100644
--- a/doc/stages/readers.text.rst
+++ b/doc/stages/readers.text.rst
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ header_insert
   String to use as the file header.  All lines in the file as assumed to be
   records containing point data.
 
+header_skip
+  Number of lines to skip before reading header
+
 count
   Maximum number of points to read [Optional]
 
diff --git a/io/TextReader.cpp b/io/TextReader.cpp
index 4294637f42..f5d7794bca 100644
--- a/io/TextReader.cpp
+++ b/io/TextReader.cpp
@@ -131,7 +131,12 @@ void TextReader::initialize(PointTableRef table)
     if (!m_istream)
         throwError("Unable to open text file '" + m_filename + "'.");
 
+
     std::string header;
+
+    // Skip any lines requested
+    for (uint32_t i = 0; i < m_headerSkip; ++i)
+        std::getline(*m_istream, header);
     if (m_headerInsert.size())
         header = m_headerInsert;
     else if (m_headerOverride.size())
@@ -155,6 +160,7 @@ void TextReader::addArgs(ProgramArgs& args)
         "the first line in the file.", m_headerOverride);
     args.add("header_insert", "Use this string as the header line. All "
         "lines of the file are treated as data.", m_headerInsert);
+    args.add("header_skip", "Use number to skip lines before starting reading. " , m_headerSkip, 0u);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/io/TextReader.hpp b/io/TextReader.hpp
index d4ca328f12..b56565895e 100644
--- a/io/TextReader.hpp
+++ b/io/TextReader.hpp
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ class PDAL_DLL TextReader : public Reader, public Streamable
     size_t m_line;
     std::string m_headerOverride;
     std::string m_headerInsert;
+    uint32_t m_headerSkip;
 };
 
 } // namespace pdal