diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
index dc86ff060c..23c01e7768 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
@@ -119,23 +119,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
         }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
-        public bool CanConnect
-        {
-            get
-            {
-                if (!Configured || !DbConnectionExtensions.IsConnectionAvailable(_connectionString, _providerName)) return false;
+        public bool CanConnect => Configured && DbConnectionExtensions.IsConnectionAvailable(_connectionString, _providerName);
 
-                if (_serverVersionDetected) return true;
-
-                if (_databaseType.IsSqlServer())
-                    DetectSqlServerVersion();
-                _serverVersionDetected = true;
-
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
-
-        private void DetectSqlServerVersion()
+        private DatabaseType DetectSqlServerVersion()
         {
             // replace NPoco database type by a more efficient one
 
@@ -152,22 +138,28 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
                 fromSettings = true;
             }
 
+            DatabaseType databaseType;
             switch (versionName)
             {
                 case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2008:
-                    _databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2008;
+                    databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2008;
                     break;
                 case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2012:
                 case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2014:
                 case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2016:
                 case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2017:
-                    _databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2012;
+                    databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2012;
                     break;
                 // else leave unchanged
+                default:
+                    databaseType = _databaseType;
+                    break;
             }
 
             _logger.Debug<UmbracoDatabaseFactory>("SqlServer {SqlServerVersion}, DatabaseType is {DatabaseType} ({Source}).",
-                versionName, _databaseType, fromSettings ? "settings" : "detected");
+                versionName, databaseType, fromSettings ? "settings" : "detected");
+
+            return databaseType;
         }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
@@ -224,6 +216,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
 
                 if (_npocoDatabaseFactory == null) throw new NullReferenceException("The call to UmbracoDatabaseFactory.Config yielded a null UmbracoDatabaseFactory instance.");
 
+                if (_databaseType.IsSqlServer() && DbConnectionExtensions.IsConnectionAvailable(_connectionString, _providerName))
+                    _databaseType = DetectSqlServerVersion();
+
                 SqlContext = new SqlContext(_sqlSyntax, _databaseType, _pocoDataFactory, _mappers);
 
                 _logger.Debug<UmbracoDatabaseFactory>("Configured.");