diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/pom.xml b/spring-batch-excel/pom.xml
index 7702d94..e018aa5 100644
--- a/spring-batch-excel/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-excel/pom.xml
@@ -44,14 +44,14 @@
 
         <java.version>1.8</java.version>
 
-        <spring.batch.version>4.3.3</spring.batch.version>
+        <spring.batch.version>4.3.4</spring.batch.version>
         <poi.version>4.1.2</poi.version>
 
 		<!-- Test Dependencies -->
 		<assertj.version>3.18.1</assertj.version>
-		<junit.jupiter.version>5.7.1</junit.jupiter.version>
+		<junit.jupiter.version>5.8.2</junit.jupiter.version>
 		<log4j.version>2.13.3</log4j.version>
-		<mockito.version>3.6.0</mockito.version>
+		<mockito.version>3.11.0</mockito.version>
     </properties>
 
 	<developers>
@@ -183,6 +183,14 @@
 					</execution>
 				</executions>
 			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>2.22.2</version>
+			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>2.22.2</version>
+			</plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/Sheet.java b/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/Sheet.java
index 70080a2..7576017 100644
--- a/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/Sheet.java
+++ b/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/Sheet.java
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ public interface Sheet extends Iterable<String[]>, AutoCloseable {
 	String getName();
 
 	/**
-	 * Get the row as a {@code String[]}. Returns {@code null} if the row doesn't exist.
+	 * Get the row as a {@code String[]}. Returns {@code null} if the row doesn't exist. Can throw an
+	 * {@code UnsupportedOperationException} when the underlying implementation doesn't support indexed access to rows.
 	 * @param rowNumber the row number to read.
 	 * @return a {@code String[]} or {@code null}
 	 */
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingSheet.java b/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingSheet.java
index 0be89f9..a4d87b5 100644
--- a/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingSheet.java
+++ b/spring-batch-excel/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingSheet.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.streaming;
 
-import java.io.Closeable;
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -42,7 +40,13 @@ import org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.Sheet;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.xml.StaxUtils;
 
-class StreamingSheet implements Sheet, Iterable<String[]>, Closeable {
+/**
+ * {@code Sheet} implementation for Apache POI using the streaming event mode to read the rows.
+ *
+ * @author Marten Deinum
+ * @since 0.1.0
+ */
+class StreamingSheet implements Sheet {
 
 	private final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(StreamingSheet.class);
 
@@ -143,7 +147,7 @@ class StreamingSheet implements Sheet, Iterable<String[]>, Closeable {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public void close() throws IOException {
+	public void close() throws Exception {
 		try {
 			this.reader.close();
 		}
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/poi/PoiItemReaderXlsxWithBlankLinesTests.java b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/poi/PoiItemReaderXlsxWithBlankLinesTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0127537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/poi/PoiItemReaderXlsxWithBlankLinesTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.poi;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.AbstractExcelItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.AbstractExcelItemReaderTests;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+
+/**
+ * @author Marten Deinum
+ * @since 0.1.0
+ */
+public class PoiItemReaderXlsxWithBlankLinesTests extends AbstractExcelItemReaderTests {
+
+	@Override
+	protected void configureItemReader(AbstractExcelItemReader<String[]> itemReader) {
+		itemReader.setResource(new ClassPathResource("player_with_blank_lines.xlsx"));
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected AbstractExcelItemReader<String[]> createExcelItemReader() {
+		return new PoiItemReader<>();
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingXlsxItemReaderWithBlankLinesTest.java b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingXlsxItemReaderWithBlankLinesTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..650779e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/extensions/excel/streaming/StreamingXlsxItemReaderWithBlankLinesTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2021 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.streaming;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.AbstractExcelItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.extensions.excel.AbstractExcelItemReaderTests;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+
+/**
+ * @author Marten Deinum
+ * @since 0.1.0
+ */
+class StreamingXlsxItemReaderWithBlankLinesTest extends AbstractExcelItemReaderTests {
+
+	@Override
+	protected void configureItemReader(AbstractExcelItemReader<String[]> itemReader) {
+		itemReader.setResource(new ClassPathResource("player_with_blank_lines.xlsx"));
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected AbstractExcelItemReader<String[]> createExcelItemReader() {
+		return new StreamingXlsxItemReader<>();
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xls b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xls
index 7c34ece..fa622c5 100644
Binary files a/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xls and b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xls differ
diff --git a/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xlsx b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f86ce65
Binary files /dev/null and b/spring-batch-excel/src/test/resources/player_with_blank_lines.xlsx differ