diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVFormat.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVFormat.java
index dbd9e6e2..f0e8b561 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVFormat.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVFormat.java
@@ -449,16 +449,16 @@ public class CSVFormat implements Serializable {
         return quoteChar != null;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Parses the specified content.
-     *
-     * @param in
-     *            the input stream
-     * @return a stream of CSVRecord
-     * @throws IOException
-     *             If an I/O error occurs
-     */
-    public Iterable<CSVRecord> parse(final Reader in) throws IOException {
+	/**
+	 * Parses the specified content.
+	 * 
+	 * @param in
+	 *            the input stream
+	 * @return a parser over a stream of {@link #CSVRecord}s.
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             If an I/O error occurs
+	 */
+    public CSVParser parse(final Reader in) throws IOException {
         return new CSVParser(in, this);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParser.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParser.java
index 0d415aad..75155bd3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParser.java
@@ -236,6 +236,9 @@ public class CSVParser implements Iterable<CSVRecord>, Closeable {
 
     /**
      * Closes resources.
+     * 
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             If an I/O error occurs
      */
 	public void close() throws IOException {
 		if (lexer != null) {
@@ -309,6 +312,9 @@ public class CSVParser implements Iterable<CSVRecord>, Closeable {
             }
 
             public boolean hasNext() {
+            	if (isClosed()) {
+            		return false;
+            	}
                 if (current == null) {
                     current = getNextRecord();
                 }
@@ -317,6 +323,9 @@ public class CSVParser implements Iterable<CSVRecord>, Closeable {
             }
 
             public CSVRecord next() {
+            	if (isClosed()) {
+            		return null;
+            	}
                 CSVRecord next = current;
                 current = null;
 
@@ -337,4 +346,8 @@ public class CSVParser implements Iterable<CSVRecord>, Closeable {
         };
     }
 
+	public boolean isClosed() {
+		return lexer.isClosed();
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/ExtendedBufferedReader.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/ExtendedBufferedReader.java
index 278ec298..d6614dd3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/ExtendedBufferedReader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/ExtendedBufferedReader.java
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ final class ExtendedBufferedReader extends BufferedReader {
 
     /** The count of EOLs (CR/LF/CRLF) seen so far */
     private long eolCounter = 0;
+    
+    private boolean closed;
 
     /**
      * Created extended buffered reader using default buffer-size
@@ -154,4 +156,23 @@ final class ExtendedBufferedReader extends BufferedReader {
         }
         return eolCounter + 1; // Allow for counter being incremented only at EOL
     }
+
+	public boolean isClosed() {
+		return closed;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Closes the stream.
+	 * 
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             If an I/O error occurs
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public void close() throws IOException {
+		// Set ivars before calling super close() in case close() throws an IOException.
+		closed = true;
+		lastChar = END_OF_STREAM;
+		super.close();
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
index 0e37e050..95bd6e72 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ abstract class Lexer implements Closeable {
 
     abstract Token nextToken(Token reusableToken) throws IOException;
 
+    boolean isClosed() {
+    	return in.isClosed();
+    }
+    
     /**
      * @return true if the given char is a whitespace character
      */
@@ -197,10 +201,11 @@ abstract class Lexer implements Closeable {
 
     /**
      * Closes resources.
+     * 
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             If an I/O error occurs
      */
 	public void close() throws IOException {
-		if (in != null) {
-			in.close();
-		}
+		in.close();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParserTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParserTest.java
index ab4438e9..e694ec4a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParserTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVParserTest.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 
 import org.junit.Assert;
-
 import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -395,6 +394,19 @@ public class CSVParserTest {
         assertEquals(4, records.size());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testClose() throws Exception {
+        final Reader in = new StringReader("# comment\na,b,c\n1,2,3\nx,y,z");
+        final CSVParser parser = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withCommentStart('#').withHeader().parse(in);
+        final Iterator<CSVRecord> records = parser.iterator();
+        assertTrue(records.hasNext());
+        parser.close();
+        assertFalse(records.hasNext());
+        assertNull(records.next());
+        assertFalse(records.hasNext());
+        assertNull(records.next());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testCarriageReturnEndings() throws IOException {
         final String code = "foo\rbaar,\rhello,world\r,kanu";
@@ -605,22 +617,22 @@ public class CSVParserTest {
 
     @Test
     public void testGetLineNumberWithLF() throws Exception {
-        validateLineNumbers(String.valueOf(LF));
+        this.validateLineNumbers(String.valueOf(LF));
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testGetLineNumberWithCRLF() throws Exception {
-        validateLineNumbers(CRLF);
+        this.validateLineNumbers(CRLF);
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testGetLineNumberWithCR() throws Exception {
-        validateLineNumbers(String.valueOf(CR));
+        this.validateLineNumbers(String.valueOf(CR));
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testGetRecordNumberWithLF() throws Exception {
-        validateRecordNumbers(String.valueOf(LF));
+        this.validateRecordNumbers(String.valueOf(LF));
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -649,17 +661,17 @@ public class CSVParserTest {
 
     @Test
     public void testGetRecordNumberWithCRLF() throws Exception {
-        validateRecordNumbers(CRLF);
+        this.validateRecordNumbers(CRLF);
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testGetRecordNumberWithCR() throws Exception {
-        validateRecordNumbers(String.valueOf(CR));
+        this.validateRecordNumbers(String.valueOf(CR));
     }
 
     @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
     public void testInvalidFormat() throws Exception {
-        CSVFormat invalidFormat = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withDelimiter(CR);
+        final CSVFormat invalidFormat = CSVFormat.DEFAULT.withDelimiter(CR);
         new CSVParser((Reader) null, invalidFormat);
     }