diff --git a/perfkitbenchmarker/publisher.py b/perfkitbenchmarker/publisher.py
index c3daf70c0e..8f6447f348 100755
--- a/perfkitbenchmarker/publisher.py
+++ b/perfkitbenchmarker/publisher.py
@@ -531,6 +531,7 @@ def PublishSamples(self, samples):
                          '--service_account_private_key_file=' +
                          self.service_account_private_key_file])
       load_cmd.extend(['load',
+                       '--autodetect',
                        '--source_format=NEWLINE_DELIMITED_JSON',
                        self.bigquery_table,
                        tf.name])
diff --git a/tests/publisher_test.py b/tests/publisher_test.py
index b88a4fe9fa..d424ad3a79 100644
--- a/tests/publisher_test.py
+++ b/tests/publisher_test.py
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ def testNoProject(self):
     self.mock_vm_util.IssueRetryableCommand.assert_called_once_with(
         ['bq',
          'load',
+         '--autodetect',
          '--source_format=NEWLINE_DELIMITED_JSON',
          self.table,
          mock.ANY])