diff --git a/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/conversion.rs b/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/conversion.rs
index 9474e9cb78..f7941bf41d 100644
--- a/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/conversion.rs
+++ b/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/conversion.rs
@@ -154,12 +154,16 @@ pub fn create_column(
 
 // Adds a separator to the vector of values using the column names from the
 // dataframe to create the Values Row
-pub fn add_separator(values: &mut Vec<Value>, df: &DataFrame, span: Span) {
+// returns true if there is an index column contained in the dataframe
+pub fn add_separator(values: &mut Vec<Value>, df: &DataFrame, has_index: bool, span: Span) {
     let mut record = Record::new();
 
-    record.push("index", Value::string("...", span));
+    if !has_index {
+        record.push("index", Value::string("...", span));
+    }
 
     for name in df.get_column_names() {
+        // there should only be one index field
         record.push(name, Value::string("...", span))
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/mod.rs b/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/mod.rs
index ea121994c8..644c1b11eb 100644
--- a/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/nu_plugin_polars/src/dataframe/values/nu_dataframe/mod.rs
@@ -296,6 +296,13 @@ impl NuDataFrame {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn has_index(&self) -> bool {
+        self.columns(Span::unknown())
+            .unwrap_or_default() // just assume there isn't an index
+            .iter()
+            .any(|col| col.name() == "index")
+    }
+
     // Print is made out a head and if the dataframe is too large, then a tail
     pub fn print(&self, span: Span) -> Result<Vec<Value>, ShellError> {
         let df = &self.df;
@@ -304,7 +311,7 @@ impl NuDataFrame {
         if df.height() > size {
             let sample_size = size / 2;
             let mut values = self.head(Some(sample_size), span)?;
-            conversion::add_separator(&mut values, df, span);
+            conversion::add_separator(&mut values, df, self.has_index(), span);
             let remaining = df.height() - sample_size;
             let tail_size = remaining.min(sample_size);
             let mut tail_values = self.tail(Some(tail_size), span)?;
@@ -323,7 +330,6 @@ impl NuDataFrame {
     pub fn head(&self, rows: Option<usize>, span: Span) -> Result<Vec<Value>, ShellError> {
         let to_row = rows.unwrap_or(5);
         let values = self.to_rows(0, to_row, span)?;
-
         Ok(values)
     }
 
@@ -334,7 +340,6 @@ impl NuDataFrame {
         let from_row = to_row.saturating_sub(size);
 
         let values = self.to_rows(from_row, to_row, span)?;
-
         Ok(values)
     }
 
@@ -368,11 +373,14 @@ impl NuDataFrame {
             .map(|col| (col.name().to_string(), col.into_iter()))
             .collect::<Vec<(String, std::vec::IntoIter<Value>)>>();
 
+        let has_index = self.has_index();
         let values = (0..size)
             .map(|i| {
                 let mut record = Record::new();
 
-                record.push("index", Value::int((i + from_row) as i64, span));
+                if !has_index {
+                    record.push("index", Value::int((i + from_row) as i64, span));
+                }
 
                 for (name, col) in &mut iterators {
                     record.push(name.clone(), col.next().unwrap_or(Value::nothing(span)));