diff --git a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader.java b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader.java
index 7a235352e50..10067cd6c5c 100644
--- a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader.java
+++ b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader.java
@@ -69,10 +69,9 @@ public static <D> FileReader<D> openReader(SeekableInput in, DatumReader<D> read
       length -= bytesRead;
       offset += bytesRead;
     }
-    in.seek(0);
 
     if (Arrays.equals(MAGIC, magic)) // current format
-      return new DataFileReader<>(in, reader);
+      return new DataFileReader<>(in, reader, magic);
     if (Arrays.equals(DataFileReader12.MAGIC, magic)) // 1.2 format
       return new DataFileReader12<>(in, reader);
 
@@ -111,7 +110,7 @@ public static <D> DataFileReader<D> openReader(SeekableInput in, DatumReader<D>
    * <pre/>
    */
   public DataFileReader(File file, DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOException {
-    this(new SeekableFileInput(file), reader, true);
+    this(new SeekableFileInput(file), reader, true, null);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -128,15 +127,20 @@ public DataFileReader(File file, DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOException {
    * <pre/>
    */
   public DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOException {
-    this(sin, reader, false);
+    this(sin, reader, false, null);
+  }
+
+  private DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader, byte[] magic) throws IOException {
+    this(sin, reader, false, magic);
   }
 
   /** Construct a reader for a file. Please close resource files yourself. */
-  protected DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader, boolean closeOnError) throws IOException {
+  protected DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader, boolean closeOnError, byte[] magic)
+      throws IOException {
     super(reader);
     try {
       this.sin = new SeekableInputStream(sin);
-      initialize(this.sin);
+      initialize(this.sin, magic);
       blockFinished();
     } catch (final Throwable e) {
       if (closeOnError) {
@@ -153,7 +157,7 @@ protected DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader, boolean close
   protected DataFileReader(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader, Header header) throws IOException {
     super(reader);
     this.sin = new SeekableInputStream(sin);
-    initialize(this.sin, header);
+    initialize(header);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -180,7 +184,7 @@ public void sync(final long position) throws IOException {
     seek(position);
     // work around an issue where 1.5.4 C stored sync in metadata
     if ((position == 0L) && (getMeta("avro.sync") != null)) {
-      initialize(sin); // re-init to skip header
+      initialize(sin, null); // re-init to skip header
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader12.java b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader12.java
index f24a978d6f8..c057a86db73 100644
--- a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader12.java
+++ b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileReader12.java
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ public DataFileReader12(SeekableInput sin, DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOExcep
     this.in = new DataFileReader.SeekableInputStream(sin);
 
     byte[] magic = new byte[4];
+    in.seek(0); // seek to 0 to read magic header
     in.read(magic);
     if (!Arrays.equals(MAGIC, magic))
       throw new InvalidAvroMagicException("Not a data file.");
diff --git a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileStream.java b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileStream.java
index 8d2697104e2..a2b5172251d 100644
--- a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileStream.java
+++ b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/file/DataFileStream.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ private Header() {
    */
   public DataFileStream(InputStream in, DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOException {
     this.reader = reader;
-    initialize(in);
+    initialize(in, null);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -97,18 +97,30 @@ protected DataFileStream(DatumReader<D> reader) throws IOException {
     this.reader = reader;
   }
 
-  /** Initialize the stream by reading from its head. */
-  void initialize(InputStream in) throws IOException {
-    this.header = new Header();
-    this.vin = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(in, vin);
+  byte[] readMagic() throws IOException {
+    if (this.vin == null) {
+      throw new IOException("InputStream is not initialized");
+    }
     byte[] magic = new byte[DataFileConstants.MAGIC.length];
     try {
       vin.readFixed(magic); // read magic
     } catch (IOException e) {
       throw new IOException("Not an Avro data file.", e);
     }
+    return magic;
+  }
+
+  void validateMagic(byte[] magic) throws InvalidAvroMagicException {
     if (!Arrays.equals(DataFileConstants.MAGIC, magic))
       throw new InvalidAvroMagicException("Not an Avro data file.");
+  }
+
+  /** Initialize the stream by reading from its head. */
+  void initialize(InputStream in, byte[] magic) throws IOException {
+    this.header = new Header();
+    this.vin = DecoderFactory.get().binaryDecoder(in, vin);
+    magic = (magic == null) ? readMagic() : magic;
+    validateMagic(magic);
 
     long l = vin.readMapStart(); // read meta data
     if (l > 0) {
@@ -134,7 +146,7 @@ void initialize(InputStream in) throws IOException {
   }
 
   /** Initialize the stream without reading from it. */
-  void initialize(InputStream in, Header header) throws IOException {
+  void initialize(Header header) throws IOException {
     this.header = header;
     this.codec = resolveCodec();
     reader.setSchema(header.schema);