diff --git a/ghost/members-csv/lib/parse.js b/ghost/members-csv/lib/parse.js
index 8aeb3bbd57..3ef8d75977 100644
--- a/ghost/members-csv/lib/parse.js
+++ b/ghost/members-csv/lib/parse.js
@@ -6,23 +6,19 @@ const fs = require('fs-extra');
 /**
  * 
  * @param {string} path - The path to the CSV to prepare
- * @param {Object.<string, string>} mapping - An object whose keys are headers in the input CSV and values are the header to replace it with
+ * @param {Object.<string, string>} headerMapping - An object whose keys are headers in the input CSV and values are the header to replace it with
  * @param {Array<string>} [defaultLabels] - A list of labels to apply to every parsed member row
  * @returns 
  */
-module.exports = (path, mapping, defaultLabels = []) => {
-    const inputMapping = Object.assign({}, mapping, {
-        subscribed_to_emails: 'subscribed'
-    });
-
+module.exports = (path, headerMapping = {}, defaultLabels = []) => {
     return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
         const csvFileStream = fs.createReadStream(path);
         const csvParserStream = papaparse.parse(papaparse.NODE_STREAM_INPUT, {
             header: true,
             transformHeader(_header) {
                 let header = _header;
-                if (inputMapping && Reflect.has(inputMapping, _header)) {
-                    header = inputMapping[_header];
+                if (headerMapping && Reflect.has(headerMapping, _header)) {
+                    header = headerMapping[_header];
                 }
 
                 return header;
diff --git a/ghost/members-csv/test/parse.test.js b/ghost/members-csv/test/parse.test.js
index a6464e0cf9..392063747e 100644
--- a/ghost/members-csv/test/parse.test.js
+++ b/ghost/members-csv/test/parse.test.js
@@ -124,9 +124,13 @@ describe('parse', function () {
         should.equal(result[1].name, null);
     });
 
-    it('read csv: transforms "subscribed_to_emails" column to "subscribed" property', async function () {
+    it('read csv: transforms "subscribed_to_emails" column to "subscribed" property when the mapping is passed in', async function () {
+        const mapping = {
+            subscribed_to_emails: 'subscribed'
+        };
         const result = await readCSV({
-            filePath: csvPath + 'subscribed-to-emails-header.csv'
+            filePath: csvPath + 'subscribed-to-emails-header.csv',
+            mapping
         });
 
         assert.ok(result);
@@ -137,4 +141,18 @@ describe('parse', function () {
         assert.equal(result[1].email, 'test@example.com');
         assert.equal(result[1].subscribed, false);
     });
+
+    it('read csv: DOES NOT transforms "subscribed_to_emails" column to "subscribed" property when the WITHOUT mapping', async function () {
+        const result = await readCSV({
+            filePath: csvPath + 'subscribed-to-emails-header.csv'
+        });
+
+        assert.ok(result);
+        assert.equal(result.length, 2);
+        assert.equal(result[0].email, 'jbloggs@example.com');
+        assert.ok(result[0].subscribed_to_emails);
+
+        assert.equal(result[1].email, 'test@example.com');
+        assert.equal(result[1].subscribed_to_emails, false);
+    });
 });
diff --git a/ghost/members-importer/lib/importer.js b/ghost/members-importer/lib/importer.js
index 60b6b1dc17..18c596554d 100644
--- a/ghost/members-importer/lib/importer.js
+++ b/ghost/members-importer/lib/importer.js
@@ -88,7 +88,10 @@ module.exports = class MembersCSVImporter {
             throw new errors.DataImportError({message: tpl(messages.filenameCollision)});
         }
 
-        const rows = await membersCSV.parse(inputFilePath, headerMapping, defaultLabels);
+        const inputMapping = Object.assign({}, headerMapping, {
+            subscribed_to_emails: 'subscribed'
+        });
+        const rows = await membersCSV.parse(inputFilePath, inputMapping, defaultLabels);
         const columns = Object.keys(rows[0]);
         const numberOfBatches = Math.ceil(rows.length / batchSize);
         const mappedCSV = membersCSV.unparse(rows, columns);