diff --git a/jbehave-core/src/main/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactory.java b/jbehave-core/src/main/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactory.java
index 2126841e0..c9c8cda73 100755
--- a/jbehave-core/src/main/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactory.java
+++ b/jbehave-core/src/main/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactory.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 import java.util.Deque;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.jbehave.core.configuration.Configuration;
 import org.jbehave.core.configuration.Keywords;
 import org.jbehave.core.i18n.LocalizedKeywords;
@@ -104,9 +105,19 @@ public ExamplesTable createExamplesTable(String input) {
                 loadedTable = TableTransformersExecutor.applyTransformers(tableTransformers,
                         tablePropertiesQueue.getTable(), tableParsers, target, tableTransformerMonitor);
                 tablePropertiesQueue = tableParsers.parseProperties(loadedTable);
-                target = tablePropertiesQueue.getProperties();
+                TableProperties parsedProperties = tablePropertiesQueue.getProperties().getFirst();
+                if (StringUtils.isEmpty(parsedProperties.getPropertiesAsString())) {
+                    TableProperties newProperties = new TableProperties("", keywords, parameterConverters);
+                    newProperties.overrideSeparatorsFrom(target.peekLast());
+                    target.clear();
+                    target.addFirst(newProperties);
+                } else {
+                    target = tablePropertiesQueue.getProperties();
+                }
             }
             properties.descendingIterator().forEachRemaining(target::addFirst);
+
+            tablePropertiesQueue = new TablePropertiesQueue(tablePropertiesQueue.getTable(), target);
         }
 
         return new ExamplesTable(tablePropertiesQueue, parameterConverters, parameterControls, tableParsers,
diff --git a/jbehave-core/src/test/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactoryBehaviour.java b/jbehave-core/src/test/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactoryBehaviour.java
index a1f4ac70f..533d4e9cc 100755
--- a/jbehave-core/src/test/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactoryBehaviour.java
+++ b/jbehave-core/src/test/java/org/jbehave/core/model/ExamplesTableFactoryBehaviour.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.jbehave.core.model;
 
+import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
@@ -7,6 +8,10 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
 import org.jbehave.core.io.LoadFromClasspath;
 import org.jbehave.core.io.ResourceLoader;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@@ -167,4 +172,25 @@ void shouldFailIfExamplesTableParsingSeparatorsArePlacesOutsideOfExternalTableTh
                 + "external table they belong to:%n{%s=!}\ndata.table", separator);
         assertEquals(message, thrown.getMessage());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void shouldLoadTableFromPathAndPreserveSeparators() {
+        // Given
+        ExamplesTableFactory factory = new ExamplesTableFactory(new LoadFromClasspath(), new TableTransformers());
+
+        // When
+        ExamplesTable table = factory.createExamplesTable("data.table");
+
+        // Then
+        assertThat(table.getHeaders(), equalTo(asList("symbol", "threshold", "price", "status")));
+        List<Map<String, String>> rows = table.getRows();
+        assertThat(rows.size(), equalTo(3));
+        ensureRowContentIs(rows, 0, asList("STK1", "15.0", "5.0", "OFF"));
+        ensureRowContentIs(rows, 1, asList("STK1", "15.0", "10.0", "OFF"));
+        ensureRowContentIs(rows, 2, asList("STK1", "15.0", "16.0", "ON"));
+    }
+
+    private void ensureRowContentIs(List<Map<String, String>> rows, int row, List<String> expected) {
+        assertThat(new ArrayList<>(rows.get(row).values()), equalTo(expected));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/jbehave-core/src/test/resources/data.table b/jbehave-core/src/test/resources/data.table
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b64b3a280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jbehave-core/src/test/resources/data.table
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{transformer=REPLACING, replacing=11.0, replacement=10.0, headerSeparator=!, valueSeparator=!}
+{transformer=FROM_LANDSCAPE, headerSeparator=!, valueSeparator=!}
+!symbol   !STK1!STK1!STK1!
+!threshold!15.0!15.0!15.0!
+!price    !5.0 !11.0!16.0!
+!status   !OFF !OFF !ON  !