diff --git a/pandas/io/excel.py b/pandas/io/excel.py
index 0d3d4286f5a3c..78af86cc00f7f 100644
--- a/pandas/io/excel.py
+++ b/pandas/io/excel.py
@@ -387,6 +387,10 @@ def __init__(self, io, **kwds):
             self.book = io
         elif not isinstance(io, xlrd.Book) and hasattr(io, "read"):
             # N.B. xlrd.Book has a read attribute too
+            if hasattr(io, 'seek'):
+                # GH 19779
+                io.seek(0)
+
             data = io.read()
             self.book = xlrd.open_workbook(file_contents=data)
         elif isinstance(self._io, compat.string_types):