diff --git a/xlsxwriter.class.php b/xlsxwriter.class.php
index 91301c4c8..894eb83eb 100644
--- a/xlsxwriter.class.php
+++ b/xlsxwriter.class.php
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public function writeToFile($filename)
 		$zip->close();
 	}
 
-	protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $col_widths=array() )
+	protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $num_cols=0, $col_widths=array() )
 	{
 		//if already initialized
 		if ($this->current_sheet==$sheet_name || isset($this->sheets[$sheet_name]))
@@ -149,8 +149,15 @@ protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $col_widths=array() )
 				$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="'.($i+1).'" min="'.($i+1).'" style="0" width="'.floatval($column_width).'"/>');
 				$i++;
 			}
+		} else if ($num_cols > 0) {
+			for ($i=0; $i<$num_cols; $i++) {
+				$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="'.($i+1).'" min="'.($i+1).'" style="0" width="11.5"/>');
+			}
+		} else {
+			// Some excel readers might not parse this and automatically
+			// hide all columns up to 1024 (AMK column)
+			$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="1024" min="'.($i+1).'" style="0" width="11.5"/>');
 		}
-		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="1024" min="'.($i+1).'" style="0" width="11.5"/>');
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '</cols>');
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<sheetData>');
 	}
@@ -193,7 +200,7 @@ public function writeSheetHeader($sheet_name, array $header_types, $col_options
     $style = &$col_options;
 
 		$col_widths = isset($col_options['widths']) ? (array)$col_options['widths'] : array();
-		self::initializeSheet($sheet_name, $col_widths);
+		self::initializeSheet($sheet_name, count($header_types), $col_widths);
 		$sheet = &$this->sheets[$sheet_name];
 		$sheet->columns = $this->initializeColumnTypes($header_types);
 		if (!$suppress_row)