diff --git a/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/_private/SupportMessages.java b/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/_private/SupportMessages.java
index 202a50ba5..d4f692fa1 100644
--- a/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/_private/SupportMessages.java
+++ b/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/_private/SupportMessages.java
@@ -80,4 +80,7 @@ public interface SupportMessages {
     @Message(id = 60020, value = "Expecting JMS message types: %s, but got %s, %s")
     BatchRuntimeException unexpectedJmsMessageType(String expectedTypes, String actualType, Object val);
 
+    @Message(id = 60021, value = "Failed to determine parameterNames due to a complex SQL was supplied. please specify parameterNames explicitly")
+    BatchRuntimeException failedToDetermineParameterNames();
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriter.java b/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriter.java
index 4b6fb9799..ae3976031 100644
--- a/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriter.java
+++ b/jberet-support/src/main/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriter.java
@@ -123,30 +123,40 @@ public void writeItems(final List<Object> items) throws Exception {
     public void open(final Serializable checkpoint) throws Exception {
         init();
 
-        if (parameterNames == null) {
-            final String sqlLowerCase = sql.toLowerCase();
-            final int insertPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf("insert");
-            int leftParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf('(', insertPos + 7);
-            int rightParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf(')', leftParenthesisPos + 1);
-            final String[] columns = sql.substring(leftParenthesisPos + 1, rightParenthesisPos).split(",");
-            final int valuesPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf("values", rightParenthesisPos + 1);
-            leftParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf('(', valuesPos + 1);
-            rightParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.lastIndexOf(')');
+        if (parameterNames == null && beanType != java.util.List.class) {
+            parameterNames = determineParameterNames(sql);
+        }
+    }
 
-            if (rightParenthesisPos <= leftParenthesisPos) {
-                throw SupportMessages.MESSAGES.invalidReaderWriterProperty(null, sql, "sql");
-            }
+    static String[] determineParameterNames(final String sql) {
+        final String sqlLowerCase = sql.toLowerCase();
+        final int insertPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf("insert");
+        int leftParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf('(', insertPos + 7);
+        int rightParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf(')', leftParenthesisPos + 1);
+        final String[] columns = sql.substring(leftParenthesisPos + 1, rightParenthesisPos).split(",");
+        final int valuesPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf("values", rightParenthesisPos + 1);
+        leftParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.indexOf('(', valuesPos + 1);
+        rightParenthesisPos = sqlLowerCase.lastIndexOf(')');
 
-            final String[] values = sql.substring(leftParenthesisPos + 1, rightParenthesisPos).split(",");
-            final List<String> parameterNamesList = new ArrayList<String>();
-            for (int i = 0; i < values.length; ++i) {
-                final String v = values[i].trim();
-                if (v.equals("?")) {
-                    parameterNamesList.add(columns[i].trim());
-                }
+        if (rightParenthesisPos <= leftParenthesisPos) {
+            throw SupportMessages.MESSAGES.invalidReaderWriterProperty(null, sql, "sql");
+        }
+
+        final String[] values = sql.substring(leftParenthesisPos + 1, rightParenthesisPos).split(",");
+
+        if (values.length != columns.length) {
+            throw SupportMessages.MESSAGES.failedToDetermineParameterNames();
+        }
+
+        final List<String> parameterNamesList = new ArrayList<String>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < values.length; ++i) {
+            final String v = values[i].trim();
+            if (v.equals("?")) {
+                parameterNamesList.add(columns[i].trim());
             }
-            parameterNames = parameterNamesList.toArray(new String[parameterNamesList.size()]);
         }
+
+        return parameterNamesList.toArray(new String[parameterNamesList.size()]);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -164,7 +174,7 @@ private void mapParameters(final Object item) throws Exception {
             final List itemAsList = (List) item;
             //the item is a list and should contain data of proper types, e.g., String, Integer, Date, etc,
             //and in the same order as SQL insert statement parameters.
-            for (int i = 0; i < parameterNames.length; ++i) {
+            for (int i = 0; i < itemAsList.size(); ++i) {
                 setParameter(i, itemAsList.get(i));
             }
         } else {
diff --git a/jberet-support/src/test/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriterTest.java b/jberet-support/src/test/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b8347e2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jberet-support/src/test/java/org/jberet/support/io/JdbcItemWriterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Red Hat, Inc. and/or its affiliates.
+ *
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ */
+package org.jberet.support.io;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import javax.batch.operations.BatchRuntimeException;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.jberet.support.io.JdbcItemWriter.determineParameterNames;
+
+@SuppressWarnings("SpellCheckingInspection")
+public class JdbcItemWriterTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void normal() throws Exception {
+        final String sql = "INSERT INTO forex (symbol, ts, bid_open, bid_high, bid_low, bid_close, volume) " +
+                "values ('USDJPY', ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)";
+        final String[] actual = determineParameterNames(sql);
+        final String[] expected = {"ts", "bid_open", "bid_high", "bid_low", "bid_close", "volume"};
+        assertArrayEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = BatchRuntimeException.class)
+    public void canNotDetermine() throws Exception {
+        final String sql = "INSERT INTO forex (symbol, ts, bid_open, bid_high, bid_low, bid_close, volume) " +
+                "values ('USDJPY', parsedatetime('yyyyMMdd HHmmss', ?), ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)";
+        determineParameterNames(sql);
+    }
+}