diff --git a/plugins/input/sqlite/sqlite_utils.hpp b/plugins/input/sqlite/sqlite_utils.hpp
index e3cc9f6cb..27758e6ec 100644
--- a/plugins/input/sqlite/sqlite_utils.hpp
+++ b/plugins/input/sqlite/sqlite_utils.hpp
@@ -700,6 +700,7 @@ public:
                 {
                     // "Column Affinity" says default to "Numeric" but for now we pass..
                     //desc_.add_descriptor(attribute_descriptor(fld_name,mapnik::Double));
+                    desc.add_descriptor(mapnik::attribute_descriptor(fld_name, mapnik::String));
 
 #ifdef MAPNIK_LOG
                     // Do not fail when we specify geometry_field in XML file
@@ -707,8 +708,9 @@ public:
                     {
                         MAPNIK_LOG_DEBUG(sqlite) << "Column '"
                                                  << std::string(fld_name)
-                                                 << "' unhandled due to unknown type: "
-                                                 << fld_type;
+                                                 << "' unhandled due to unknown type: '"
+                                                 << fld_type
+                                                 << "', using String";
                     }
 #endif
                 }
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/sqlite_test.py b/tests/python_tests/sqlite_test.py
index f384fccae..270f350cd 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/sqlite_test.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/sqlite_test.py
@@ -368,6 +368,44 @@ if 'sqlite' in mapnik.DatasourceCache.plugin_names():
         eq_(len(feat.geometries()),1)
         eq_(feat.geometries()[0].to_wkt(),'Point(0 0)')
 
+    def test_db_with_one_untyped_column():
+        # form up an in-memory test db
+        wkb = '010100000000000000000000000000000000000000'
+        ds = mapnik.SQLite(file=':memory:',
+            table='test1',
+            initdb='''
+                create table test1 (geometry BLOB, untyped);
+                insert into test1 values (x'%s', 'untyped');
+            ''' % wkb,
+            extent='-180,-60,180,60',
+            use_spatial_index=False,
+            key_field='rowid'
+        )
+
+        # ensure the untyped column is found
+        eq_(len(ds.fields()),2)
+        eq_(ds.fields(),['rowid', 'untyped'])
+        eq_(ds.field_types(),['int', 'str'])
+
+    def test_db_with_one_untyped_column_using_subquery():
+        # form up an in-memory test db
+        wkb = '010100000000000000000000000000000000000000'
+        ds = mapnik.SQLite(file=':memory:',
+            table='(SELECT rowid, geometry, untyped FROM test1)',
+            initdb='''
+                create table test1 (geometry BLOB, untyped);
+                insert into test1 values (x'%s', 'untyped');
+            ''' % wkb,
+            extent='-180,-60,180,60',
+            use_spatial_index=False,
+            key_field='rowid'
+        )
+
+        # ensure the untyped column is found
+        eq_(len(ds.fields()),3)
+        eq_(ds.fields(),['rowid', 'untyped', 'rowid'])
+        eq_(ds.field_types(),['int', 'str', 'int'])
+
 
     def test_that_64bit_int_fields_work():
         ds = mapnik.SQLite(file='../data/sqlite/64bit_int.sqlite',