diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java
index 924667d6c..b00b363bb 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> {
 
 			tokenizer.setNames(this.names.toArray(new String[this.names.size()]));
 
-			if(StringUtils.hasText(this.delimiter)) {
+			if(StringUtils.hasLength(this.delimiter)) {
 				tokenizer.setDelimiter(this.delimiter);
 			}
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java
index a029dea48..2fa1de952 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.FlatFileItemReader;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.separator.DefaultRecordSeparatorPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.DefaultFieldSet;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.DelimitedLineTokenizer;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.FieldSet;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.FieldSetFactory;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.Range;
@@ -85,6 +86,44 @@ public class FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests {
 		assertNull(reader.read());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleDelimitedWithWhitespaceCharacter() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1 2 3"))
+				.delimited()
+				.delimiter(" ")
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.targetType(Foo.class)
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("3", item.getThird());
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleDelimitedWithTabCharacter() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1\t2\t3"))
+				.delimited()
+				.delimiter(DelimitedLineTokenizer.DELIMITER_TAB)
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.targetType(Foo.class)
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("3", item.getThird());
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testAdvancedDelimited() throws Exception {
 		final List<String> skippedLines = new ArrayList<>();