diff --git a/dev/BulkLoader.php b/dev/BulkLoader.php
index dbdc92c5f..269b7d140 100644
--- a/dev/BulkLoader.php
+++ b/dev/BulkLoader.php
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ abstract class BulkLoader extends ViewableData {
 	 * 
 	 * {@see Member::$unique_identifier_field}.
 	 * 
-	 * If multiple checks are specified, the first one "wins".
+	 * If multiple checks are specified, the first non-empty field "wins".
 	 * 
 	 *  <code>
 	 * <?php
diff --git a/dev/CsvBulkLoader.php b/dev/CsvBulkLoader.php
index eebc97eeb..0fb246be9 100644
--- a/dev/CsvBulkLoader.php
+++ b/dev/CsvBulkLoader.php
@@ -162,15 +162,12 @@ class CsvBulkLoader extends BulkLoader {
 	 */
 	public function findExistingObject($record) {
 		$SNG_objectClass = singleton($this->objectClass);
-		
 		// checking for existing records (only if not already found)
 		foreach($this->duplicateChecks as $fieldName => $duplicateCheck) {
 			if(is_string($duplicateCheck)) {
 				$SQL_fieldName = Convert::raw2sql($duplicateCheck); 
-				if(!isset($record[$fieldName])) {
-					return false;
-					//user_error("CsvBulkLoader:processRecord: Couldn't find duplicate identifier '{$fieldName}'
-					//in columns", E_USER_ERROR);
+				if(!isset($record[$fieldName]) || empty($record[$fieldName])) { //skip current duplicate check if field value is empty
+					continue;
 				}
 				$SQL_fieldValue = Convert::raw2sql($record[$fieldName]);
 				$existingRecord = DataObject::get_one($this->objectClass, "\"$SQL_fieldName\" = '{$SQL_fieldValue}'");
@@ -184,17 +181,16 @@ class CsvBulkLoader extends BulkLoader {
 					user_error("CsvBulkLoader::processRecord():"
 						. " {$duplicateCheck['callback']} not found on importer or object class.", E_USER_ERROR);
 				}
-				
-				if($existingRecord) return $existingRecord;
+				if($existingRecord) {
+					return $existingRecord;
+				}
 			} else {
 				user_error('CsvBulkLoader::processRecord(): Wrong format for $duplicateChecks', E_USER_ERROR);
 			}
 		}
-		
 		return false;
 	}
 	
-	
 	/**
 	 * Determine wether any loaded files should be parsed
 	 * with a header-row (otherwise we rely on {@link self::$columnMap}.
diff --git a/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest.php b/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest.php
index 6ed542165..d1df15000 100644
--- a/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest.php
+++ b/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest.php
@@ -151,7 +151,10 @@ class CsvBulkLoaderTest extends SapphireTest {
 		$loader = new CsvBulkLoader('CsvBulkLoaderTest_Player');
 		$filepath = $this->getCurrentAbsolutePath() . '/CsvBulkLoaderTest_PlayersWithId.csv';
 		$loader->duplicateChecks = array(
-			'ExternalIdentifier' => 'ExternalIdentifier' 
+			'ExternalIdentifier' => 'ExternalIdentifier',
+			'NonExistantIdentifier' => 'ExternalIdentifier',
+			'ExternalIdentifier' => 'ExternalIdentifier',
+			'AdditionalIdentifier' => 'ExternalIdentifier'
 		);
 		$results = $loader->load($filepath);
 		$createdPlayers = $results->Created();
diff --git a/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest_PlayersWithId.csv b/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest_PlayersWithId.csv
index dc6e37ebb..b1460f41c 100644
--- a/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest_PlayersWithId.csv
+++ b/tests/dev/CsvBulkLoaderTest_PlayersWithId.csv
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-"ExternalIdentifier","FirstName","Biography","Birthday"
-222b,"John","","31/01/1988"
-222b,"John","He's a good guy",""
-9000a,"Jamie","Pretty old\, with an escaped comma","31/01/1882"
\ No newline at end of file
+"ExternalIdentifier","FirstName","Biography","Birthday","  AdditionalIdentifier " 
+222b,"John","","31/01/1988",""
+222b,"John","He's a good guy","",""
+9000a,"Jamie","Pretty old\, with an escaped comma","31/01/1882",""
+,"Fiona","A wise woman","","sql'unsafeid"
\ No newline at end of file