diff --git a/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner.go b/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner.go
index 66550389ae..4ea059acca 100644
--- a/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner.go
+++ b/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner.go
@@ -924,17 +924,21 @@ func (r *runner) runRally(ctx context.Context) ([]rallyStat, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not open esrally report in path: %s: %w", r.svcInfo.Logs.Folder.Local, err)
 	}
+	defer reportCSV.Close()
 
-	reader := csv.NewReader(reportCSV)
+	return parseRallyReport(reportCSV, r.svcInfo.Logs.Folder.Local, errOutput.String())
+}
 
+func parseRallyReport(report io.Reader, logsPath string, stderr string) ([]rallyStat, error) {
+	reader := csv.NewReader(report)
 	stats := make([]rallyStat, 0)
 	for {
-		record, err := reader.Read()
-		if err == io.EOF {
+		record, readErr := reader.Read()
+		if readErr == io.EOF {
 			break
 		}
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read esrally report in path: %s (stderr=%q): %w", r.svcInfo.Logs.Folder.Local, errOutput.String(), err)
+		if readErr != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read esrally report in path: %s (stderr=%q): %w", logsPath, stderr, readErr)
 		}
 
 		stats = append(stats, rallyStat{Metric: record[0], Task: record[1], Value: record[2], Unit: record[3]})
diff --git a/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner_test.go b/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7783c69885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/benchrunner/runners/rally/runner_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package rally
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseRallyReportReturnsStats(t *testing.T) {
+	stats, err := parseRallyReport(strings.NewReader("metric,task,value,unit\n"), "/tmp/rally", "")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parseRallyReport returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(stats) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 stat, got %d", len(stats))
+	}
+	if stats[0] != (rallyStat{
+		Metric: "metric",
+		Task:   "task",
+		Value:  "value",
+		Unit:   "unit",
+	}) {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected stat: %#v", stats[0])
+	}
+}