diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
index 2cf03517d..fccfbd8f7 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
@@ -218,10 +218,19 @@ printCSV records = unlined (printRecord `map` records)
 -- | Return the cleaned up and validated CSV data (can be empty), or an error.
 validateCsv :: CsvRules -> Int -> Either String CSV -> Either String [CsvRecord]
 validateCsv _ _           (Left err) = Left err
-validateCsv rules numhdrlines (Right rs) = validate $ filter (not.shouldSkip) $ drop numhdrlines $ filternulls rs
+validateCsv rules numhdrlines (Right rs) = validate $ applyConditionalSkips $ drop numhdrlines $ filternulls rs
   where
     filternulls = filter (/=[""])
-    shouldSkip r = isJust $ getEffectiveAssignment rules r "skip"
+    skipCount r =
+      case getEffectiveAssignment rules r "skip" of
+        Nothing -> Nothing
+        Just "" -> Just 1
+        Just x -> Just (read x)
+    applyConditionalSkips [] = []
+    applyConditionalSkips (r:rest) =
+      case skipCount r of
+        Nothing -> r:(applyConditionalSkips rest)
+        Just cnt -> applyConditionalSkips (drop (cnt-1) rest)
     validate [] = Right []
     validate rs@(_first:_)
       | isJust lessthan2 = let r = fromJust lessthan2 in
diff --git a/hledger-lib/hledger_csv.m4.md b/hledger-lib/hledger_csv.m4.md
index a3b131cc3..dee69ce7b 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/hledger_csv.m4.md
+++ b/hledger-lib/hledger_csv.m4.md
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. Eg:
 <!-- XXX -->
 <!-- hledger tries to skip initial CSV header lines automatically. -->
 <!-- If it guesses wrong, use this directive to skip exactly N lines. -->
-This can also be used in a conditional block (without numeric argument) to ignore certain CSV records.
+This can also be used in a conditional block to ignore certain CSV records.
 ```rules
 # ignore the first CSV line
 skip 1
@@ -178,12 +178,12 @@ Note, interpolation strips any outer whitespace, so a CSV value like
 ## conditional block
 
 `if` *`PATTERN`*\
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS or skip`*...
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS or skip N`*...
 
 `if`\
 *`PATTERN`*\
 *`PATTERN`*...\
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS or skip`*...
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*`FIELDASSIGNMENTS or skip N`*...
 
 This applies one or more field assignments, only to those CSV records matched by one of the PATTERNs.
 The patterns are case-insensitive regular expressions which match anywhere
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ specific field).  When there are multiple patterns they can be written
 on separate lines, unindented.
 The field assignments are on separate lines indented by at least one space.
 
-Instead of field assignments you can specify `skip` to skip the matching record.
+Instead of field assignments you can specify `skip N` to skip the next N records (including the one that matchied).
 
 Examples:
 ```rules
diff --git a/tests/csv.test b/tests/csv.test
index a84f3a38f..b26df9f38 100644
--- a/tests/csv.test
+++ b/tests/csv.test
@@ -354,7 +354,9 @@ $  ./hledger-csv | hledger balance -f - --no-total
 <
 HEADER
 10/2009/09,Flubber Co,50
-MIDDLE
+MIDDLE SKIP THIS LINE
+AND THIS
+AND THIS ONE
 10/2009/09,Flubber Co,50
 *** END OF FILE ***
 RULES
@@ -364,10 +366,12 @@ currency $
 account1 assets:myacct
 
 if HEADER
-MIDDLE
 END OF FILE
   skip
 
+if MIDDLE
+  skip 3
+
 $  ./hledger-csv
 2009/09/10 Flubber Co
     assets:myacct              $50