diff --git a/.verb.md b/.verb.md
index ecda709..6d86fb4 100644
--- a/.verb.md
+++ b/.verb.md
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ Into an object like this:
 
 **Why did we create gray-matter in the first place?**
 
-We created gray-matter after trying out other libraries that failed to meet our standards and requirements. 
+We created gray-matter after trying out other libraries that failed to meet our standards and requirements.
 
 Some libraries met most of the requirements, but _none met all of them_.
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Some libraries met most of the requirements, but _none met all of them_.
 * Have no problem reading YAML files directly
 * Have no problem with complex content, including **non-front-matter** fenced code blocks that contain examples of YAML front matter. Other parsers fail on this.
 * Support stringifying back to front-matter. This is useful for linting, updating properties, etc.
-* Allow custom delimiters, when it's necessary for avoiding delimiter collision. 
+* Allow custom delimiters, when it's necessary for avoiding delimiter collision.
 * Should return an object with at least these three properties:
   - `data`: the parsed YAML front matter, as a JSON object
   - `content`: the contents as a string, without the front matter
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ In addition, the following non-enumberable properties are added to the object to
 - `file.language` **{String}**: the front-matter language that was parsed. `yaml` is the default
 - `file.matter` **{String}**: the _raw_, un-parsed front-matter string
 - `file.stringify` **{Function}**: [stringify](#stringify) the file by converting `file.data` to a string in the given language, wrapping it in delimiters and prepending it to `file.content`.
+- `file.delimiters` **{Array}**: The delimiters which surrounded the front-matter, stored as `[<open>, <close>]`. Will be `null` if there was no front-matter.
 
 
 ## Run the examples
@@ -275,7 +276,7 @@ Define custom engines for parsing and/or stringifying front-matter.
 
 **Engine format**
 
-Engines may either be an object with `parse` and (optionally) `stringify` methods, or a function that will be used for parsing only.
+Engines may either be an object with `parse` and (optionally) `stringify` method and `delimiters`, or a function that will be used for parsing only.
 
 **Examples**
 
@@ -300,7 +301,7 @@ const file = matter(str, {
   engines: {
     toml: {
       parse: toml.parse.bind(toml),
-
+      delimiters: '+++',
       // example of throwing an error to let users know stringifying is
       // not supported (a TOML stringifier might exist, this is just an example)
       stringify: function() {
@@ -363,6 +364,24 @@ categories = "front matter toml"
 This is content
 ```
 
+If you provide the `delimiters` property to a custom engine, then gray-matter will use that to detect the language. For example using `+++` to detect TOML.
+
+```js
+const str = `+++
+title = "My post"
+tags = ["random"]
++++
+Content goes here.
+`;
+const file = matter(str, {
+  engines: {
+    toml: {
+      parse: toml.parse.bind(toml),
+      delimiters: '+++',
+    }
+  }
+});
+```
 
 ### options.delimiters
 
diff --git a/examples/toml-custom.js b/examples/toml-custom.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35e5dff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/toml-custom.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+const matter = require('..');
+const toml = require('toml');
+
+/**
+ * Parse TOML front-matter
+ */
+
+const str = [
+  '+++',
+  'title = "TOML"',
+  'description = "Front matter"',
+  'categories = ["front", "matter", "toml"]',
+  '+++',
+  'This is content'
+].join('\n');
+
+const file = matter(str, {
+  engines: {
+    toml: {
+      parse: toml.parse.bind(toml),
+      delimiters: '+++'
+    }
+  }
+});
+
+console.log(file);
diff --git a/gray-matter.d.ts b/gray-matter.d.ts
index dec9c09..6ed5817 100644
--- a/gray-matter.d.ts
+++ b/gray-matter.d.ts
@@ -42,10 +42,11 @@ declare namespace matter {
     excerpt?: string
     orig: Buffer | I
     language: string
+    delimiters: [string, string]
     matter: string
     stringify(lang: string): string
   }
-  
+
   /**
    * Stringify an object to YAML or the specified language, and
    * append it to the given string. By default, only YAML and JSON
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ declare namespace matter {
   export function language<O extends matter.GrayMatterOption<string, O>>(
     str: string,
     options?: GrayMatterOption<string, O>
-  ): { name: string; raw: string }
+  ): { name: string; raw: string; delimiters: null | [string, string] }
 }
 
 export = matter
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7d49331..6c83776 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 const sections = require('section-matter');
 const defaults = require('./lib/defaults');
+const delimiters = require('./lib/delimiters');
 const stringify = require('./lib/stringify');
 const excerpt = require('./lib/excerpt');
 const engines = require('./lib/engines');
@@ -56,39 +57,30 @@ function matter(input, options) {
 
 function parseMatter(file, options) {
   const opts = defaults(options);
-  const open = opts.delimiters[0];
-  const close = '\n' + opts.delimiters[1];
   let str = file.content;
 
   if (opts.language) {
     file.language = opts.language;
   }
 
-  // get the length of the opening delimiter
-  const openLen = open.length;
-  if (!utils.startsWith(str, open, openLen)) {
-    excerpt(file, opts);
-    return file;
+  const language = matter.language(str, opts);
+  if (language.name) {
+    file.language = language.name;
   }
 
-  // if the next character after the opening delimiter is
-  // a character from the delimiter, then it's not a front-
-  // matter delimiter
-  if (str.charAt(openLen) === open.slice(-1)) {
+  if (!language.delimiters) {
+    excerpt(file, opts);
     return file;
   }
 
+  file.delimiters = language.delimiters;
+
+  const close = '\n' + file.delimiters[1];
+
   // strip the opening delimiter
-  str = str.slice(openLen);
+  str = str.slice(language.raw.length);
   const len = str.length;
 
-  // use the language defined after first delimiter, if it exists
-  const language = matter.language(str, opts);
-  if (language.name) {
-    file.language = language.name;
-    str = str.slice(language.raw.length);
-  }
-
   // get the index of the closing delimiter
   let closeIndex = str.indexOf(close);
   if (closeIndex === -1) {
@@ -183,10 +175,10 @@ matter.read = function(filepath, options) {
 };
 
 /**
- * Returns true if the given `string` has front matter.
+ * Returns true if the given `string` has default front matter.
  * @param  {String} `string`
  * @param  {Object} `options`
- * @return {Boolean} True if front matter exists.
+ * @return {Boolean} True if default front matter exists.
  * @api public
  */
 
@@ -205,15 +197,32 @@ matter.test = function(str, options) {
 matter.language = function(str, options) {
   const opts = defaults(options);
   const open = opts.delimiters[0];
+  let raw, name, delims;
 
-  if (matter.test(str)) {
-    str = str.slice(open.length);
+  if (!matter.test(str, options)) {
+    return delimiters(str, options);
+  }
+  // if the next character after the opening delimiter is
+  // a character from the delimiter, then it's not a front-
+  // matter delimiter
+  if (str.charAt(open.length) === open.slice(-1)) {
+    return {
+      raw: '',
+      name: '',
+      delimiters: null
+    };
   }
+  str = str.slice(open.length);
+  name = str.slice(0, str.search(/\r?\n/));
+  raw = open + name;
+  name = name.trim();
+  delims = opts.delimiters;
+  delims[0] = open + name;
 
-  const language = str.slice(0, str.search(/\r?\n/));
   return {
-    raw: language,
-    name: language ? language.trim() : ''
+    raw,
+    name,
+    delimiters: delims
   };
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/delimiters.js b/lib/delimiters.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34d96c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/delimiters.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+const defaults = require('./defaults');
+const utils = require('./utils');
+
+module.exports = function(str, options) {
+  const opts = defaults(options);
+  const dlen = str.search(/\r?\n/);
+  let raw, name, delimiters;
+  if (dlen > 0) {
+    const customDelims = mapCustomDelimiters(opts);
+    raw = str.substr(0, dlen);
+    const firstLine = raw.trim();
+    if (customDelims[firstLine]) {
+      name = customDelims[firstLine];
+      delimiters = utils.arrayify(opts.engines[name].delimiters);
+      if (delimiters.length === 1) {
+        delimiters.push(delimiters[0]);
+      }
+      return {
+        raw: raw || '',
+        name: name || '',
+        delimiters
+      };
+    }
+  }
+
+  // No frontmatter
+  return {
+    raw: '',
+    name: '',
+    delimiters: null
+  };
+};
+
+function mapCustomDelimiters(opts) {
+  const customDelims = {};
+  for (const engine in opts.engines) {
+    if (opts.engines[engine].delimiters) {
+      const delims = utils.arrayify(opts.engines[engine].delimiters);
+      if (customDelims[delims[0]]) {
+        throw new Error('Another engine has already used delimiter: ' + delims[0]);
+      }
+      if (delims[0] === opts.delimiters[0]) {
+        throw new Error('Engine specific delimiters cannot match the default delimiters: ' + opts.delimiters[0]);
+      }
+      customDelims[delims[0]] = engine;
+    }
+  }
+  return customDelims;
+}
diff --git a/lib/stringify.js b/lib/stringify.js
index b4c70a4..26a1301 100644
--- a/lib/stringify.js
+++ b/lib/stringify.js
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ module.exports = function(file, data, options) {
   }
 
   data = Object.assign({}, file.data, data);
-  const open = opts.delimiters[0];
-  const close = opts.delimiters[1];
+  file.delimiters = file.delimiters || [];
+  const open = file.delimiters[0] || opts.delimiters[0];
+  const close = file.delimiters[1] || opts.delimiters[1];
   const matter = engine.stringify(data, options).trim();
   let buf = '';
 
diff --git a/lib/to-file.js b/lib/to-file.js
index 799bb5d..047f6cf 100644
--- a/lib/to-file.js
+++ b/lib/to-file.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ module.exports = function(file) {
   // set non-enumerable properties on the file object
   utils.define(file, 'orig', utils.toBuffer(file.content));
   utils.define(file, 'language', file.language || '');
+  utils.define(file, 'delimiters', file.delimiters || ['', '']);
   utils.define(file, 'matter', file.matter || '');
   utils.define(file, 'stringify', function(data, options) {
     if (options && options.language) {
diff --git a/test/matter.language.js b/test/matter.language.js
index 8a60897..cc9f0e8 100644
--- a/test/matter.language.js
+++ b/test/matter.language.js
@@ -13,31 +13,37 @@ var matter = require('..');
 describe('.language', function() {
   it('should detect the name of the language to parse', function() {
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('---\nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: '',
-      name: ''
+      raw: '---',
+      name: '',
+      delimiters: ['---', '---']
     });
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('---js\nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: 'js',
-      name: 'js'
+      raw: '---js',
+      name: 'js',
+      delimiters: ['---js', '---']
     });
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('---coffee\nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: 'coffee',
-      name: 'coffee'
+      raw: '---coffee',
+      name: 'coffee',
+      delimiters: ['---coffee', '---']
     });
   });
 
   it('should work around whitespace', function() {
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('--- \nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: ' ',
-      name: ''
+      raw: '--- ',
+      name: '',
+      delimiters: ['---', '---']
     });
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('--- js \nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: ' js ',
-      name: 'js'
+      raw: '--- js ',
+      name: 'js',
+      delimiters: ['---js', '---']
     });
     assert.deepEqual(matter.language('---  coffee \nfoo: bar\n---'), {
-      raw: '  coffee ',
-      name: 'coffee'
+      raw: '---  coffee ',
+      name: 'coffee',
+      delimiters: ['---coffee', '---']
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/parse-toml.js b/test/parse-toml.js
index 5dec0a5..c99635b 100644
--- a/test/parse-toml.js
+++ b/test/parse-toml.js
@@ -45,4 +45,19 @@ describe('parse TOML:', function() {
       matter('---toml\n[props\nuser = "jonschlinkert"\n---\nContent\n');
     });
   });
+
+  it('should auto-detect TOML with custom delimiters.', function() {
+    var actual = parse('+++\ntitle = "autodetect-TOML-custom-delims"\n[props]\nuser = "jonschlinkert"\n+++\nContent\n', {
+      engines: {
+        toml: {
+          parse: toml.parse.bind(toml),
+          delimiters: '+++'
+        }
+      }
+    });
+    assert.equal(actual.data.title, 'autodetect-TOML-custom-delims');
+    assert(actual.hasOwnProperty('data'));
+    assert(actual.hasOwnProperty('content'));
+    assert(actual.hasOwnProperty('orig'));
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/stringify.js b/test/stringify.js
index 2747b46..7d88d80 100644
--- a/test/stringify.js
+++ b/test/stringify.js
@@ -51,6 +51,28 @@ describe('.stringify', function() {
     ].join('\n'));
   });
 
+  it('should stringify a file object with custom delimiters', function() {
+    var file = { content: 'Name: {{name}}', data: {name: 'gray-matter'}, delimiters: ['+++', '+++'] };
+    var actual = matter.stringify(file);
+    assert.equal(actual, [
+      '+++',
+      'name: gray-matter',
+      '+++',
+      'Name: {{name}}\n'
+    ].join('\n'));
+  });
+
+  it('should stringify a file object with extra language info', function() {
+    var file = { content: 'Name: {{name}}', data: {name: 'gray-matter'}, delimiters: ['---toml', '---'] };
+    var actual = matter.stringify(file);
+    assert.equal(actual, [
+      '---toml',
+      'name: gray-matter',
+      '---',
+      'Name: {{name}}\n'
+    ].join('\n'));
+  });
+
   it('should stringify an excerpt', function() {
     var file = { content: 'Name: {{name}}', data: {name: 'gray-matter'} };
     file.excerpt = 'This is an excerpt.';