By means of a holder for a roll of unwindable material, in particular a holder for paper rolls, preferably for standing a paper roll vertically on a horizontal surface, with a cylindrical holding rod (1), a base (5) and an essentially known pivotal retaining arrangement for the free end of the paper roll, the object is to provide a holder in which the roll is retained on the holder in a stable manner also when different widths of paper are used, and where the cost of manufacture can be reduced through a simple embodiment and few components. This object is realised by the retaining arrangement (2) being pivotally attached to a detachable cover (3) that moves along the axis of the holding rod and which is equipped with a cylindrical skirt (4) that likewise moves axially along the holding rod, and where the diametrical dimensions of the cover are such that during application the cover is in contact with the end surface of the paper roll currently in use, and covers it at least partially.