diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/external.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/external.ts
index 2fc6caeb39..8465f997e3 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/external.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/external.ts
@@ -133,9 +133,14 @@ export async function exportRows(
 
   let result = await search({ tableId, query: requestQuery, sort, sortOrder })
   let rows: Row[] = []
+  let headers
+
+  if (!tableName) {
+    throw new HTTPError("Could not find table name.", 400)
+  }
+  const schema = datasource.entities[tableName].schema
 
   // Filter data to only specified columns if required
-
   if (columns && columns.length) {
     for (let i = 0; i < result.rows.length; i++) {
       rows[i] = {}
@@ -143,22 +148,17 @@ export async function exportRows(
         rows[i][column] = result.rows[i][column]
       }
     }
+    headers = columns
   } else {
     rows = result.rows
   }
 
-  if (!tableName) {
-    throw new HTTPError("Could not find table name.", 400)
-  }
-  const schema = datasource.entities[tableName].schema
   let exportRows = cleanExportRows(rows, schema, format, columns)
 
-  let headers = Object.keys(schema)
-
   let content: string
   switch (format) {
     case exporters.Format.CSV:
-      content = exporters.csv(headers, exportRows)
+      content = exporters.csv(headers ?? Object.keys(schema), exportRows)
       break
     case exporters.Format.JSON:
       content = exporters.json(exportRows)
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/internal.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/internal.ts
index 87a33c0ba0..22cb3985b7 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/internal.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/internal.ts
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ export async function exportRows(
 
   let rows: Row[] = []
   let schema = table.schema
-
+  let headers
   // Filter data to only specified columns if required
   if (columns && columns.length) {
     for (let i = 0; i < result.length; i++) {
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ export async function exportRows(
         rows[i][column] = result[i][column]
       }
     }
+    headers = columns
   } else {
     rows = result
   }
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ export async function exportRows(
   if (format === Format.CSV) {
     return {
       fileName: "export.csv",
-      content: csv(Object.keys(rows[0]), exportRows),
+      content: csv(headers ?? Object.keys(rows[0]), exportRows),
     }
   } else if (format === Format.JSON) {
     return {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/tests/rows/row.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/tests/rows/row.spec.ts
index af3d405e15..8b01356e35 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/tests/rows/row.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/tests/rows/row.spec.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ jest.mock("../../../utilities/rowProcessor", () => ({
 
 jest.mock("../../../api/controllers/view/exporters", () => ({
   ...jest.requireActual("../../../api/controllers/view/exporters"),
-  csv: jest.fn(),
   Format: {
     CSV: "csv",
   },
@@ -102,5 +101,32 @@ describe("external row sdk", () => {
         new HTTPError("Could not find table name.", 400)
       )
     })
+
+    it("should only export specified columns", async () => {
+      mockDatasourcesGet.mockImplementation(async () => ({
+        entities: {
+          tablename: {
+            schema: {
+              name: {},
+              age: {},
+              dob: {},
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      }))
+      const headers = ["name", "dob"]
+
+      const result = await exportRows({
+        tableId: "datasource__tablename",
+        format: Format.CSV,
+        query: {},
+        columns: headers,
+      })
+
+      expect(result).toEqual({
+        fileName: "export.csv",
+        content: `"name","dob"`,
+      })
+    })
   })
 })