--- asciidoc.orig	2016-02-03 15:07:10.651580200 +0800
+++ asciidoc		2016-02-02 09:46:58.554230123 +0800
@@ -3635,9 +3635,13 @@
         for option in self.parameters.options:
             self.attributes[option+'-option'] = ''
         if self.rows and 'header' in self.parameters.options:
-            headrows = self.subs_rows(self.rows[0:1],'header')
+            rowspan = 1
+            for cell in self.rows[0]:
+                if rowspan < cell.vspan:
+                    rowspan = cell.vspan
+            headrows = self.subs_rows(self.rows[0:rowspan],'header')
             self.attributes['headrows'] = '\x07headrows\x07'
-            self.rows = self.rows[1:]
+            self.rows = self.rows[rowspan:]
         if self.rows and 'footer' in self.parameters.options:
             footrows = self.subs_rows( self.rows[-1:], 'footer')
             self.attributes['footrows'] = '\x07footrows\x07'