diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/PeekableItemReader.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/PeekableItemReader.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..995fb64d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/PeekableItemReader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2010 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
+ *
+ *      http://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.item;
+
+/**
+ * <p>
+ * A specialisation of {@link ItemReader} that allows the user to look ahead
+ * into the stream of items. This is useful, for instance, when reading flat
+ * file data that contains record separator lines which are actually part of the
+ * next record.
+ * </p>
+ * 
+ * <p>
+ * The detailed contract for {@link #peek()} has to be defined by the
+ * implementation because there is no general way to define it in a concurrent
+ * environment. The definition of "the next read()" operation is tenuous if
+ * multiple clients are reading concurrently, and the ability to peek implies
+ * that some state is likely to be stored, so implementations of
+ * {@link PeekableItemReader} may well be restricted to single threaded use.
+ * </p>
+ * 
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ */
+public interface PeekableItemReader<T> extends ItemReader<T> {
+
+	/**
+	 * Get the next item that would be returned by {@link #read()}, without
+	 * affecting the result of {@link #read()}.
+	 * 
+	 * @return the next item
+	 * @throws Exception if there is a problem
+	 */
+	T peek() throws Exception, UnexpectedInputException, ParseException;
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReader.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReader.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a57388f82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2010 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
+ *
+ *      http://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.item.support;
+
+import java.util.Map.Entry;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStream;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStreamException;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStreamReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ParseException;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.PeekableItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.UnexpectedInputException;
+
+/**
+ * <p>
+ * A {@link PeekableItemReader} that allows the user to peek one item ahead.
+ * Repeated calls to {@link #peek()} will return the same item, and this will be
+ * the next item returned from {@link #read()}.
+ * </p>
+ * 
+ * <p>
+ * Intentionally not thread safe: it wouldn't be possible to honour the peek in
+ * multiple threads because only one of the threads that peeked would get that
+ * item in the next call to read.
+ * </p>
+ * 
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ * 
+ */
+public class SingleItemPeekableItemReader<T> implements ItemStreamReader<T>, PeekableItemReader<T> {
+
+	private ItemReader<T> delegate;
+
+	private T next;
+
+	private ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+
+	/**
+	 * The item reader to use as a delegate. Items are read from the delegate
+	 * and passed to the caller in {@link #read()}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param delegate the delegate to set
+	 */
+	public void setDelegate(ItemReader<T> delegate) {
+		this.delegate = delegate;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get the next item from the delegate (whether or not it has already been
+	 * peeked at).
+	 * 
+	 * @see ItemReader#read()
+	 */
+	public T read() throws Exception, UnexpectedInputException, ParseException {
+		if (next != null) {
+			T item = next;
+			next = null;
+			// executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+			return item;
+		}
+		return delegate.read();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Peek at the next item, ensuring that if the delegate is an
+	 * {@link ItemStream} the state is stored for the next call to
+	 * {@link #update(ExecutionContext)}.
+	 * 
+	 * @return the next item (or null if there is none).
+	 * 
+	 * @see PeekableItemReader#peek()
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public T peek() throws Exception, UnexpectedInputException, ParseException {
+		if (next == null) {
+			updateDelegate(executionContext);
+			next = delegate.read();
+		}
+		return next;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * If the delegate is an {@link ItemStream}, just pass the call on,
+	 * otherwise reset the peek cache.
+	 * 
+	 * @throws ItemStreamException if there is a problem
+	 * @see ItemStream#close()
+	 */
+	public void close() throws ItemStreamException {
+		next = null;
+		if (delegate instanceof ItemStream) {
+			((ItemStream) delegate).close();
+		}
+		executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * If the delegate is an {@link ItemStream}, just pass the call on,
+	 * otherwise reset the peek cache.
+	 * 
+	 * @param executionContext the current context
+	 * @throws ItemStreamException if there is a problem
+	 * @see ItemStream#open(ExecutionContext)
+	 */
+	public void open(ExecutionContext executionContext) throws ItemStreamException {
+		next = null;
+		if (delegate instanceof ItemStream) {
+			((ItemStream) delegate).open(executionContext);
+		}
+		executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * If there is a cached peek, then retrieve the execution context state from
+	 * that point. If there is no peek cached, then call directly to the
+	 * delegate.
+	 * 
+	 * @param executionContext the current context
+	 * @throws ItemStreamException if there is a problem
+	 * @see ItemStream#update(ExecutionContext)
+	 */
+	public void update(ExecutionContext executionContext) throws ItemStreamException {
+		if (next != null) {
+			// Get the last state from the delegate instead of using
+			// current value.
+			for (Entry<String, Object> entry : this.executionContext.entrySet()) {
+				executionContext.put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+		updateDelegate(executionContext);
+	}
+
+	private void updateDelegate(ExecutionContext executionContext) {
+		if (delegate instanceof ItemStream) {
+			((ItemStream) delegate).update(executionContext);
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReaderTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReaderTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..496bb08bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/SingleItemPeekableItemReaderTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2006-2010 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
+ *
+ *      http://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.item.support;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
+
+/**
+ * @author Dave Syer
+ *
+ */
+public class SingleItemPeekableItemReaderTests {
+	
+	private SingleItemPeekableItemReader<String> reader = new SingleItemPeekableItemReader<String>();
+	
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.springframework.batch.item.support.SingleItemPeekableItemReader#read()}.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testRead() throws Exception {
+		reader.setDelegate(new CountingListItemReader<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b")));
+		assertEquals("a", reader.read());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.read());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.read());
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.springframework.batch.item.support.SingleItemPeekableItemReader#peek()}.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testPeek() throws Exception {
+		reader.setDelegate(new CountingListItemReader<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b")));
+		assertEquals("a", reader.peek());
+		assertEquals("a", reader.read());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.read());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.peek());
+		assertEquals(null, reader.read());
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.springframework.batch.item.support.SingleItemPeekableItemReader#close()}.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testCloseAndOpenNoPeek() throws Exception {
+		reader.setDelegate(new CountingListItemReader<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b")));
+		assertEquals("a", reader.read());
+		ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+		reader.close();
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+		assertEquals("b", reader.read());		
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.springframework.batch.item.support.SingleItemPeekableItemReader#close()}.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testCloseAndOpenWithPeek() throws Exception {
+		reader.setDelegate(new CountingListItemReader<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b", "c")));
+		assertEquals("a", reader.read());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.peek());
+		ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+		reader.close();
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+		assertEquals("b", reader.read());		
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCloseAndOpenWithPeekAndRead() throws Exception {
+		ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+		reader.setDelegate(new CountingListItemReader<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b", "c")));
+		assertEquals("a", reader.read());
+		assertEquals("b", reader.peek());
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+		reader.close();
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+		assertEquals("b", reader.read());		
+		assertEquals("c", reader.peek());
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+		reader.close();
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+		assertEquals("c", reader.read());		
+	}
+
+	public static class CountingListItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingItemStreamItemReader<T> {
+		
+		private final List<T> list;
+		
+		private int counter = 0;
+		
+		public CountingListItemReader(List<T> list) {
+			this.list = list;
+			setName("foo");
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected void doClose() throws Exception {
+			counter = 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected void doOpen() throws Exception {
+			counter = 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected T doRead() throws Exception {
+			if (counter>=list.size()) {
+				return null;
+			}
+			return list.get(counter++);
+		}
+		
+	}
+
+}