diff --git a/include/podio/DataSource.h b/include/podio/DataSource.h
index ba00fe4e4..d13f78487 100644
--- a/include/podio/DataSource.h
+++ b/include/podio/DataSource.h
@@ -23,12 +23,25 @@ class DataSource : public ROOT::RDF::RDataSource {
   ///
   /// @brief Construct the podio::DataSource from the provided file.
   ///
-  explicit DataSource(const std::string& filePath, int nEvents = -1);
+  /// @param filePath Path to the file that should be read
+  /// @param nEvents Number of events to process (optional, defaults to -1 for
+  ///                all events)
+  /// @param collsToRead The collections that should be made available (optional,
+  ///                    defaults to empty vector for all collections)
+  ///
+  explicit DataSource(const std::string& filePath, int nEvents = -1, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead = {});
 
   ///
   /// @brief Construct the podio::DataSource from the provided file list.
   ///
-  explicit DataSource(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList, int nEvents = -1);
+  /// @param filePathList Paths to the files that should be read
+  /// @param nEvents Number of events to process (optional, defaults to -1 for
+  ///                all events)
+  /// @param collsToRead The collections that should be made available (optional,
+  ///                    defaults to empty vector for all collections)
+  ///
+  explicit DataSource(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList, int nEvents = -1,
+                      const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead = {});
 
   ///
   /// @brief Inform the podio::DataSource of the desired level of parallelism.
@@ -139,7 +152,7 @@ class DataSource : public ROOT::RDF::RDataSource {
   ///
   /// @param[in] nEvents Number of events.
   ///
-  void SetupInput(int nEvents);
+  void SetupInput(int nEvents, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead);
 };
 
 ///
@@ -147,17 +160,24 @@ class DataSource : public ROOT::RDF::RDataSource {
 ///
 /// @param[in] filePathList  List of file paths from which the RDataFrame
 ///                          will be created.
+/// @param[in] collsToRead   List of collection names that should be made
+///                          available
+///
 /// @return                  RDataFrame created from input file list.
 ///
-ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList);
+ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList,
+                                 const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead = {});
 
 ///
 /// @brief Create RDataFrame from a Podio file.
 ///
 /// @param[in] filePath  File path from which the RDataFrame will be created.
+/// @param[in] collsToRead   List of collection names that should be made
+///                          available
+///
 /// @return              RDataFrame created from input file list.
 ///
-ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::string& filePath);
+ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::string& filePath, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead = {});
 } // namespace podio
 
 #endif /* PODIO_DATASOURCE_H */
diff --git a/src/DataSource.cc b/src/DataSource.cc
index 4b8fac0af..05334a2bd 100644
--- a/src/DataSource.cc
+++ b/src/DataSource.cc
@@ -13,17 +13,19 @@
 #include <memory>
 
 namespace podio {
-DataSource::DataSource(const std::string& filePath, int nEvents) : m_nSlots{1} {
+DataSource::DataSource(const std::string& filePath, int nEvents, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead) :
+    m_nSlots{1} {
   m_filePathList.emplace_back(filePath);
-  SetupInput(nEvents);
+  SetupInput(nEvents, collsToRead);
 }
 
-DataSource::DataSource(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList, int nEvents) :
+DataSource::DataSource(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList, int nEvents,
+                       const std::vector<std::string>& collNames) :
     m_nSlots{1}, m_filePathList{filePathList} {
-  SetupInput(nEvents);
+  SetupInput(nEvents, collNames);
 }
 
-void DataSource::SetupInput(int nEvents) {
+void DataSource::SetupInput(int nEvents, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead) {
   if (m_filePathList.empty()) {
     throw std::runtime_error("podio::DataSource: No input files provided!");
   }
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ void DataSource::SetupInput(int nEvents) {
   unsigned int nEventsInFiles = 0;
   auto podioReader = podio::makeReader(m_filePathList);
   nEventsInFiles = podioReader.getEntries(podio::Category::Event);
-  frame = podioReader.readFrame(podio::Category::Event, 0);
+  frame = podioReader.readFrame(podio::Category::Event, 0, collsToRead);
 
   // Determine over how many events to run
   if (nEventsInFiles <= 0) {
@@ -173,14 +175,15 @@ std::string DataSource::GetTypeName(std::string_view columnName) const {
   return m_columnTypes.at(typeIndex);
 }
 
-ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList) {
-  ROOT::RDataFrame rdf(std::make_unique<DataSource>(filePathList));
+ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::vector<std::string>& filePathList,
+                                 const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead) {
+  ROOT::RDataFrame rdf(std::make_unique<DataSource>(filePathList, -1, collsToRead));
 
   return rdf;
 }
 
-ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::string& filePath) {
-  ROOT::RDataFrame rdf(std::make_unique<DataSource>(filePath));
+ROOT::RDataFrame CreateDataFrame(const std::string& filePath, const std::vector<std::string>& collsToRead) {
+  ROOT::RDataFrame rdf(std::make_unique<DataSource>(filePath, -1, collsToRead));
 
   return rdf;
 }
diff --git a/tests/root_io/read_with_rdatasource_root.cpp b/tests/root_io/read_with_rdatasource_root.cpp
index 29bad4319..7ef70a4ed 100644
--- a/tests/root_io/read_with_rdatasource_root.cpp
+++ b/tests/root_io/read_with_rdatasource_root.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #include "datamodel/ExampleClusterCollection.h"
 #include "podio/DataSource.h"
+#include "podio/Reader.h"
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string>
 
@@ -28,8 +30,40 @@ int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
   dframe.Describe().Print();
   std::cout << std::endl;
 
+  const auto expectedCollNames = [&inputFile]() {
+    auto reader = podio::makeReader(inputFile);
+    auto cols = reader.readNextEvent().getAvailableCollections();
+    std::ranges::sort(cols);
+    return cols;
+  }();
+  const auto allColNames = [&dframe]() {
+    auto cols = dframe.GetColumnNames();
+    std::ranges::sort(cols);
+    return cols;
+  }();
+
+  if (!std::ranges::equal(expectedCollNames, allColNames)) {
+    std::cerr << "Column names are note as expected\n  expected: [";
+    for (const auto& name : expectedCollNames) {
+      std::cerr << name << " ";
+    }
+    std::cerr << "]\n    actual: [";
+    for (const auto& name : allColNames) {
+      std::cerr << name << " ";
+    }
+    std::cerr << "]" << std::endl;
+
+    return EXIT_FAILURE;
+  }
+
   auto cluterEnergy = dframe.Define("cluster_energy", getEnergy, {"clusters"}).Histo1D("cluster_energy");
   cluterEnergy->Print();
 
+  dframe = podio::CreateDataFrame(inputFile, {"hits"});
+  if (dframe.GetColumnNames()[0] != "hits") {
+    std::cerr << "Limiting to only one collection didn't work as expected" << std::endl;
+    return EXIT_FAILURE;
+  }
+
   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }