diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8f335f7..5905774 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ dsn := "sqlserver://gorm:LoremIpsum86@localhost:9930?database=gorm"
 db, err := gorm.Open(sqlserver.Open(dsn), &gorm.Config{})
 ```
 
+## Pagination compatibility
+
+This driver detects the SQL Server version at connection time.
+
+- SQL Server 2012 and newer use the native `OFFSET ... FETCH NEXT` pagination syntax.
+- SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2 and earlier automatically fallback to a legacy pagination strategy built from
+  `TOP()` and `ROW_NUMBER()` over the generated query.
+
+This keeps the GORM `LIMIT`/`OFFSET` semantics working across mixed SQL Server installations
+without changing application code.
+
 ## Azure AD Auth
 
 ```go
diff --git a/sqlserver.go b/sqlserver.go
index 2c09a53..5fdc423 100644
--- a/sqlserver.go
+++ b/sqlserver.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package sqlserver
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	DSN               string
 	DefaultStringSize int
 	Conn              gorm.ConnPool
+
+	serverMajorVersion int
+	hasServerVersion   bool
 }
 
 type Dialector struct {
@@ -63,12 +67,124 @@ func (dialector Dialector) Initialize(db *gorm.DB) (err error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if err = dialector.detectServerVersion(db); err != nil {
+		// Fall back to the modern OFFSET/FETCH syntax if the version cannot be
+		// determined, but keep the legacy path available for older SQL Server
+		// instances.
+		dialector.serverMajorVersion = 0
+		dialector.hasServerVersion = false
+	}
+
 	for k, v := range dialector.ClauseBuilders() {
 		db.ClauseBuilders[k] = v
 	}
 	return
 }
 
+func (dialector Dialector) supportsOffsetFetch() bool {
+	if !dialector.hasServerVersion {
+		return true
+	}
+	return dialector.serverMajorVersion >= 11
+}
+
+func (dialector Dialector) detectServerVersion(db *gorm.DB) error {
+	if db == nil || db.ConnPool == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var version string
+	if err := db.ConnPool.QueryRowContext(context.Background(),
+		"SELECT CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS nvarchar(128))").Scan(&version); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	major, ok := parseSQLServerVersion(version)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	dialector.serverMajorVersion = major
+	dialector.hasServerVersion = true
+	return nil
+}
+
+func parseSQLServerVersion(version string) (int, bool) {
+	if version == "" {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+
+	for _, part := range strings.FieldsFunc(version, func(ch rune) bool {
+		switch ch {
+		case '.', ' ', '-', '\t', '\n', '\r', ',', ';':
+			return true
+		default:
+			return false
+		}
+	}) {
+		major, err := strconv.Atoi(part)
+		if err == nil {
+			return major, true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 0, false
+}
+
+func addTopClause(query string, limit int) string {
+	query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
+	if limit < 0 || query == "" {
+		return query
+	}
+
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToUpper(query), "SELECT") {
+		return query
+	}
+
+	return strings.Replace(query, "SELECT", fmt.Sprintf("SELECT TOP (%d)", limit), 1)
+}
+
+func buildLegacyPaginationSQL(query string, offset int, limit *int) string {
+	query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
+	if query == "" {
+		return query
+	}
+
+	var size int
+	unlimited := limit == nil || *limit < 0
+	if !unlimited {
+		size = *limit
+	}
+	if offset == 0 {
+		if unlimited {
+			return query
+		}
+		return addTopClause(query, size)
+	}
+
+	orderByIndex := strings.Index(strings.ToUpper(query), " ORDER BY ")
+	if orderByIndex >= 0 {
+		orderBySQL := strings.TrimSpace(query[orderByIndex:])
+		baseQuery := strings.TrimRight(query[:orderByIndex], " ")
+		upperBound := ""
+		if !unlimited {
+			upperBound = fmt.Sprintf(" AND __gorm_rownum <= %d", offset+size)
+		}
+		return fmt.Sprintf(
+			"SELECT * FROM (SELECT __gorm_wrapped.*, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (%s) AS __gorm_rownum FROM (%s) AS __gorm_wrapped) AS __gorm_paged WHERE __gorm_rownum > %d%s ORDER BY __gorm_rownum",
+			orderBySQL,
+			baseQuery,
+			offset,
+			upperBound,
+		)
+	}
+
+	if unlimited {
+		return query
+	}
+	return addTopClause(query, offset+size)
+}
+
 func (dialector Dialector) ClauseBuilders() map[string]clause.ClauseBuilder {
 	return map[string]clause.ClauseBuilder{
 		"LIMIT": func(c clause.Clause, builder clause.Builder) {
@@ -83,21 +199,28 @@ func (dialector Dialector) ClauseBuilders() map[string]clause.ClauseBuilder {
 							builder.WriteString("ORDER BY (SELECT NULL) ")
 						}
 					}
-				}
 
-				if limit.Offset > 0 {
-					builder.WriteString("OFFSET ")
-					builder.WriteString(strconv.Itoa(limit.Offset))
-					builder.WriteString(" ROWS")
-				}
+					if !dialector.supportsOffsetFetch() {
+						rewritten := buildLegacyPaginationSQL(stmt.SQL.String(), limit.Offset, limit.Limit)
+						stmt.SQL.Reset()
+						stmt.SQL.WriteString(rewritten)
+						return
+					}
 
-				if limit.Limit != nil && *limit.Limit >= 0 {
-					if limit.Offset == 0 {
-						builder.WriteString("OFFSET 0 ROW")
+					if limit.Offset > 0 {
+						builder.WriteString("OFFSET ")
+						builder.WriteString(strconv.Itoa(limit.Offset))
+						builder.WriteString(" ROWS")
+					}
+
+					if limit.Limit != nil && *limit.Limit >= 0 {
+						if limit.Offset == 0 {
+							builder.WriteString("OFFSET 0 ROW")
+						}
+						builder.WriteString(" FETCH NEXT ")
+						builder.WriteString(strconv.Itoa(*limit.Limit))
+						builder.WriteString(" ROWS ONLY")
 					}
-					builder.WriteString(" FETCH NEXT ")
-					builder.WriteString(strconv.Itoa(*limit.Limit))
-					builder.WriteString(" ROWS ONLY")
 				}
 			}
 		},
diff --git a/sqlserver_test.go b/sqlserver_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0766e93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sqlserver_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package sqlserver
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseSQLServerVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name    string
+		version string
+		want    int
+		wantOK  bool
+	}{
+		{name: "server 2008", version: "10.50.6000.34", want: 10, wantOK: true},
+		{name: "server 2012", version: "11.0.7001.0", want: 11, wantOK: true},
+		{name: "server 2016", version: "13.0.5026.0", want: 13, wantOK: true},
+		{name: "server 2019", version: "15.0.2000.5", want: 15, wantOK: true},
+		{name: "empty", version: "", want: 0, wantOK: false},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, ok := parseSQLServerVersion(tc.version)
+			if ok != tc.wantOK {
+				t.Fatalf("parseSQLServerVersion(%q) ok = %v, want %v", tc.version, ok, tc.wantOK)
+			}
+			if got != tc.want {
+				t.Fatalf("parseSQLServerVersion(%q) = %d, want %d", tc.version, got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddTopClause(t *testing.T) {
+	query := "SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1 ORDER BY id"
+	got := addTopClause(query, 10)
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "SELECT TOP (10) *") {
+		t.Fatalf("addTopClause result = %q, want TOP(10) in SELECT", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBuildLegacyPaginationSQL(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("offset zero", func(t *testing.T) {
+		limit := 10
+		got := buildLegacyPaginationSQL("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1 ORDER BY id", 0, &limit)
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "SELECT TOP (10)") {
+			t.Fatalf("legacy query without offset = %q, want TOP clause", got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("offset greater than zero", func(t *testing.T) {
+		limit := 10
+		got := buildLegacyPaginationSQL("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1 ORDER BY id", 20, &limit)
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY id)") {
+			t.Fatalf("legacy query with offset = %q, want ROW_NUMBER() wrap", got)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "__gorm_rownum > 20") {
+			t.Fatalf("legacy query with offset = %q, want offset filter applied", got)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "__gorm_rownum <= 30") {
+			t.Fatalf("legacy query with offset = %q, want upper bound applied", got)
+		}
+	})
+}