diff --git a/geopandas/tools/sjoin.py b/geopandas/tools/sjoin.py
index 9dd16b9..7c05b2d 100644
--- a/geopandas/tools/sjoin.py
+++ b/geopandas/tools/sjoin.py
@@ -46,11 +46,11 @@ def sjoin(left_df, right_df, how='inner', op='intersects',
         print('Warning: CRS does not match!')
 
     tree_idx = rtree.index.Index()
-    right_df_bounds = right_df['geometry'].apply(lambda x: x.bounds)
+    right_df_bounds = right_df.geometry.apply(lambda x: x.bounds)
     for i in right_df_bounds.index:
         tree_idx.insert(i, right_df_bounds[i])
 
-    idxmatch = (left_df['geometry'].apply(lambda x: x.bounds)
+    idxmatch = (left_df.geometry.apply(lambda x: x.bounds)
                 .apply(lambda x: list(tree_idx.intersection(x))))
     idxmatch = idxmatch[idxmatch.apply(len) > 0]
 
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ def sjoin(left_df, right_df, how='inner', op='intersects',
                           [l_idx,
                            r_idx,
                            check_predicates(
-                               left_df['geometry']
+                               left_df.geometry
                                .apply(lambda x: prepared.prep(x))[l_idx],
-                               right_df['geometry'][r_idx])
+                               right_df[right_df.geometry.name][r_idx])
                            ]))
                    )
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ def sjoin(left_df, right_df, how='inner', op='intersects',
         return (
                 left_df
                 .merge(result, left_index=True, right_index=True)
-                .merge(right_df.drop('geometry', axis=1),
+                .merge(right_df.drop(right_df.geometry.name, axis=1),
                     left_on='index_%s' % rsuffix, right_index=True,
                     suffixes=('_%s' % lsuffix, '_%s' % rsuffix))
                 )
@@ -115,14 +115,14 @@ def sjoin(left_df, right_df, how='inner', op='intersects',
         return (
                 left_df
                 .merge(result, left_index=True, right_index=True, how='left')
-                .merge(right_df.drop('geometry', axis=1),
+                .merge(right_df.drop(right_df.geometry.name, axis=1),
                     how='left', left_on='index_%s' % rsuffix, right_index=True,
                     suffixes=('_%s' % lsuffix, '_%s' % rsuffix))
                 )
     elif how == 'right':
         return (
                 left_df
-                .drop('geometry', axis=1)
+                .drop(left_df.geometry.name, axis=1)
                 .merge(result.merge(right_df,
                     left_on='index_%s' % rsuffix, right_index=True,
                     how='right'), left_index=True,
diff --git a/geopandas/tools/tests/test_sjoin.py b/geopandas/tools/tests/test_sjoin.py
index 676f50c..707a129 100644
--- a/geopandas/tools/tests/test_sjoin.py
+++ b/geopandas/tools/tests/test_sjoin.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class TestSpatialJoin(unittest.TestCase):
         nybb_filename, nybb_zip_path = download_nybb()
         self.polydf = read_file(nybb_zip_path, vfs='zip://' + nybb_filename)
         self.tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self.crs = {'init': 'epsg:4326'}
+        self.crs = self.polydf.crs
         N = 20
         b = [int(x) for x in self.polydf.total_bounds]
         self.pointdf = GeoDataFrame([
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ class TestSpatialJoin(unittest.TestCase):
     def tearDown(self):
         shutil.rmtree(self.tempdir)
 
+    def test_geometry_name(self):
+        # test sjoin is working with other geometry name
+        polydf_original_geom_name = self.polydf.geometry.name
+        self.polydf = (self.polydf.rename(columns={'geometry': 'new_geom'})
+                                  .set_geometry('new_geom'))
+        self.assertNotEqual(polydf_original_geom_name, self.polydf.geometry.name)
+        res = sjoin(self.polydf, self.pointdf, how="left")
+        self.assertEqual(self.polydf.geometry.name, res.geometry.name)
+
     def test_sjoin_left(self):
         df = sjoin(self.pointdf, self.polydf, how='left')
         self.assertEquals(df.shape, (21,8))