diff --git a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/AbstractRealtimeRecordReader.java b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/AbstractRealtimeRecordReader.java
index b48f89146..0dfef07bc 100644
--- a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/AbstractRealtimeRecordReader.java
+++ b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/main/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/AbstractRealtimeRecordReader.java
@@ -333,8 +333,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractRealtimeRecordReader {
     }
 
     // Add partitioning fields to writer schema for resulting row to contain null values for these fields
-    List<String> partitioningFields = Arrays.stream(
-        jobConf.get("partition_columns", "").split(",")).collect(Collectors.toList());
+
+    String partitionFields = jobConf.get("partition_columns", "");
+    List<String> partitioningFields =
+        partitionFields.length() > 0 ? Arrays.stream(partitionFields.split(",")).collect(Collectors.toList())
+            : new ArrayList<>();
     writerSchema = addPartitionFields(writerSchema, partitioningFields);
 
     List<String> projectionFields = orderFields(
diff --git a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/InputFormatTestUtil.java b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/InputFormatTestUtil.java
index 4088afdd0..351a306fe 100644
--- a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/InputFormatTestUtil.java
+++ b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/InputFormatTestUtil.java
@@ -99,11 +99,26 @@ public class InputFormatTestUtil {
     basePath.create();
     HoodieTestUtils.init(HoodieTestUtils.getDefaultHadoopConf(), basePath.getRoot().toString());
     File partitionPath = basePath.newFolder("2016", "05", "01");
+    createData(schema, partitionPath, numberOfFiles, numberOfRecords, commitNumber);
+    return partitionPath;
+  }
+
+  public static File prepareNonPartitionedParquetDataset(TemporaryFolder baseDir, Schema schema,
+      int numberOfFiles, int numberOfRecords, String commitNumber) throws IOException {
+    baseDir.create();
+    HoodieTestUtils.init(HoodieTestUtils.getDefaultHadoopConf(), baseDir.getRoot().toString());
+    File basePath = baseDir.getRoot();
+    createData(schema, basePath, numberOfFiles, numberOfRecords, commitNumber);
+    return basePath;
+  }
+
+  private static void createData(Schema schema,
+      File partitionPath,  int numberOfFiles, int numberOfRecords, String commitNumber)
+      throws IOException {
     AvroParquetWriter parquetWriter;
     for (int i = 0; i < numberOfFiles; i++) {
       String fileId = FSUtils.makeDataFileName(commitNumber, 1, "fileid" + i);
       File dataFile = new File(partitionPath, fileId);
-      // dataFile.createNewFile();
       parquetWriter = new AvroParquetWriter(new Path(dataFile.getAbsolutePath()), schema);
       try {
         for (GenericRecord record : generateAvroRecords(schema, numberOfRecords, commitNumber,
@@ -114,8 +129,6 @@ public class InputFormatTestUtil {
         parquetWriter.close();
       }
     }
-    return partitionPath;
-
   }
 
   private static Iterable<? extends GenericRecord> generateAvroRecords(Schema schema,
diff --git a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest.java b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest.java
index b3b095592..fbd635e31 100644
--- a/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest.java
+++ b/hoodie-hadoop-mr/src/test/java/com/uber/hoodie/hadoop/realtime/HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest.java
@@ -109,13 +109,23 @@ public class HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest {
 
   @Test
   public void testReader() throws Exception {
+    testReader(true);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testNonPartitionedReader() throws Exception {
+    testReader(false);
+  }
+
+  public void testReader(boolean partitioned) throws Exception {
     // initial commit
     Schema schema = HoodieAvroUtils.addMetadataFields(SchemaTestUtil.getEvolvedSchema());
     HoodieTestUtils.initTableType(hadoopConf, basePath.getRoot().getAbsolutePath(),
         HoodieTableType.MERGE_ON_READ);
     String commitTime = "100";
-    File partitionDir = InputFormatTestUtil
-        .prepareParquetDataset(basePath, schema, 1, 100, commitTime);
+    File partitionDir =
+        partitioned ? InputFormatTestUtil.prepareParquetDataset(basePath, schema, 1, 100, commitTime)
+        : InputFormatTestUtil.prepareNonPartitionedParquetDataset(basePath, schema, 1, 100, commitTime);
     InputFormatTestUtil.commit(basePath, commitTime);
     // Add the paths
     FileInputFormat.setInputPaths(jobConf, partitionDir.getPath());
@@ -146,7 +156,9 @@ public class HoodieRealtimeRecordReaderTest {
         .collect(Collectors.joining(","));
     jobConf.set(ColumnProjectionUtils.READ_COLUMN_NAMES_CONF_STR, names);
     jobConf.set(ColumnProjectionUtils.READ_COLUMN_IDS_CONF_STR, postions);
-    jobConf.set("partition_columns", "datestr");
+    if (partitioned) {
+      jobConf.set("partition_columns", "datestr");
+    }
 
     //validate record reader compaction
     HoodieRealtimeRecordReader recordReader = new HoodieRealtimeRecordReader(split, jobConf, reader);