diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/AbstractCursorItemReader.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/AbstractCursorItemReader.java
index e0660fd258..e502c6ca0c 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/AbstractCursorItemReader.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/AbstractCursorItemReader.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2006-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2006-2017 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.
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractCursorItemReader<T> extends AbstractItemCountingIt
 
 	private boolean useSharedExtendedConnection = false;
 
+	private Boolean connectionAutoCommit;
+
+	private Boolean initialConnectionAutoCommit;
 
 	public AbstractCursorItemReader() {
 		super();
@@ -356,6 +359,25 @@ public boolean isUseSharedExtendedConnection() {
 		return useSharedExtendedConnection;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set whether "autoCommit" should be overridden for the connection used by the cursor. If not set, defaults to
+	 * Connection / Datasource default configuration.
+	 *
+	 * @param autoCommit value used for {@link Connection#setAutoCommit(boolean)}.
+	 */
+	public void setConnectionAutoCommit(boolean autoCommit) {
+		this.connectionAutoCommit = autoCommit;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Return whether "autoCommit" should be overridden for the connection used by the cursor.
+	 *
+	 * @return the "autoCommit" value, or {@code null} if none to be applied.
+	 */
+	public Boolean getConnectionAutoCommit() {
+		return this.connectionAutoCommit;
+	}
+
 	public abstract String getSql();
 
 	/**
@@ -380,6 +402,9 @@ protected void doClose() throws Exception {
 		JdbcUtils.closeResultSet(this.rs);
 		rs = null;
 		cleanupOnClose();
+		if (this.initialConnectionAutoCommit != null) {
+			this.con.setAutoCommit(initialConnectionAutoCommit);
+		}
 		if (useSharedExtendedConnection && dataSource instanceof ExtendedConnectionDataSourceProxy) {
 			((ExtendedConnectionDataSourceProxy)dataSource).stopCloseSuppression(this.con);
 			if (!TransactionSynchronizationManager.isActualTransactionActive()) {
@@ -424,6 +449,10 @@ protected void initializeConnection() {
 			else {
 				this.con = dataSource.getConnection();
 			}
+			if (this.connectionAutoCommit != null && this.con.getAutoCommit() != this.connectionAutoCommit) {
+				this.initialConnectionAutoCommit = this.con.getAutoCommit();
+				this.con.setAutoCommit(this.connectionAutoCommit);
+			}
 		}
 		catch (SQLException se) {
 			close();
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/JdbcCursorItemReaderConfigTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/JdbcCursorItemReaderConfigTests.java
index a0dfc7bf28..91e352eb97 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/JdbcCursorItemReaderConfigTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/database/JdbcCursorItemReaderConfigTests.java
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.batch.item.database;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.reset;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import java.sql.Connection;
@@ -25,8 +29,9 @@
 import javax.sql.DataSource;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
-import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DataSourceTransactionManager;
 import org.springframework.transaction.PlatformTransactionManager;
@@ -100,4 +105,39 @@ public Void doInTransaction(TransactionStatus status) {
 				});
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testOverrideConnectionAutoCommit() throws Exception {
+        boolean initialAutoCommit= false;
+        boolean neededAutoCommit = true;
+
+		DataSource ds = mock(DataSource.class);
+		Connection con = mock(Connection.class);
+		when(con.getAutoCommit()).thenReturn(initialAutoCommit);
+		PreparedStatement ps = mock(PreparedStatement.class);
+		when(con.prepareStatement("select foo from bar", ResultSet.TYPE_FORWARD_ONLY,
+				ResultSet.CONCUR_READ_ONLY)).thenReturn(ps);
+		when(ds.getConnection()).thenReturn(con);
+
+		final JdbcCursorItemReader<String> reader = new JdbcCursorItemReader<String>();
+		reader.setDataSource(ds);
+		reader.setSql("select foo from bar");
+		reader.setConnectionAutoCommit(neededAutoCommit);
+
+		// Check "open" outside of a transaction (see AbstractStep#execute())
+		final ExecutionContext ec = new ExecutionContext();
+		reader.open(ec);
+
+		ArgumentCaptor<Boolean> autoCommitCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(Boolean.class);
+		verify(con, times(1)).setAutoCommit(autoCommitCaptor.capture());
+		assertEquals(neededAutoCommit, autoCommitCaptor.getValue());
+
+		reset(con);
+		reader.close();
+
+		// Check restored autocommit value
+		autoCommitCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(Boolean.class);
+		verify(con, times(1)).setAutoCommit(autoCommitCaptor.capture());
+		assertEquals(initialAutoCommit, autoCommitCaptor.getValue());
+	}
+
 }