diff --git a/connection.go b/connection.go
index 0c4e1a6..0d4190a 100644
--- a/connection.go
+++ b/connection.go
@@ -66,10 +66,18 @@ func (c *Connection) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Connection) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Rows, error) {
+func removeLastSemicolon(s string) string {
+	n := len(s)
+	if n > 0 && s[n-1] == ';' {
+		return s[0 : n-1]
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+func (c *Connection) execute(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (*hiveserver2.TExecuteStatementResp, error) {
 	executeReq := hiveserver2.NewTExecuteStatementReq()
 	executeReq.SessionHandle = c.session
-	executeReq.Statement = query
+	executeReq.Statement = removeLastSemicolon(query)
 
 	resp, err := c.thrift.ExecuteStatement(executeReq)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -79,22 +87,21 @@ func (c *Connection) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driv
 	if !isSuccessStatus(resp.Status) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error from server: %s", resp.Status.String())
 	}
+	return resp, nil
+}
 
+func (c *Connection) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Rows, error) {
+	resp, err := c.execute(ctx, query, args)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return newRows(c.thrift, resp.OperationHandle, c.options), nil
 }
 
 func (c *Connection) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
-	executeReq := hiveserver2.NewTExecuteStatementReq()
-	executeReq.SessionHandle = c.session
-	executeReq.Statement = query
-
-	resp, err := c.thrift.ExecuteStatement(executeReq)
+	resp, err := c.execute(ctx, query, args)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error in ExecuteStatement: %+v, %v", resp, err)
-	}
-
-	if !isSuccessStatus(resp.Status) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error from server: %s", resp.Status.String())
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	return newHiveResult(resp.OperationHandle), nil
 }
diff --git a/driver_test.go b/driver_test.go
index 76b78c2..7ccdb9a 100644
--- a/driver_test.go
+++ b/driver_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestQuery(t *testing.T) {
 func TestColumnName(t *testing.T) {
 	a := assert.New(t)
 	db, _ := sql.Open("hive", "127.0.0.1:10000/churn")
-	rows, err := db.Query("SELECT customerID, gender FROM train")
+	rows, err := db.Query("SELECT customerID, gender FROM train;")
 	assert.Nil(t, err)
 	defer db.Close()
 	defer rows.Close()