diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/NPocoDatabaseTypeExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/NPocoDatabaseTypeExtensions.cs
index e40e6dedd3..bd44c095fa 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/NPocoDatabaseTypeExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/NPocoDatabaseTypeExtensions.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
             return databaseType is NPoco.DatabaseTypes.SqlServer2008DatabaseType;
         }
 
+        public static bool IsSqlServer2012OrLater(this DatabaseType databaseType)
+        {
+            return databaseType is NPoco.DatabaseTypes.SqlServer2012DatabaseType;
+        }
+
         public static bool IsSqlCe(this DatabaseType databaseType)
         {
             return databaseType is NPoco.DatabaseTypes.SqlServerCEDatabaseType;
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
index 4a94ff3ba5..90a2215e3d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Data.Common;
 using System.Linq;
 using NPoco;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.DatabaseModelDefinitions;
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.SqlSyntax
             V2012 = 5,
             V2014 = 6,
             V2016 = 7,
+            V2017 = 8,
             Other = 99
         }
 
@@ -71,37 +73,35 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.SqlSyntax
 
             public void Initialize()
             {
-                var firstPart = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ProductVersion) ? "??" : ProductVersion.Split('.')[0];
-                switch (firstPart)
-                {
-                    case "??":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.Invalid;
-                        break;
-                    case "13":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2016;
-                        break;
-                    case "12":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2014;
-                        break;
-                    case "11":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2012;
-                        break;
-                    case "10":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2008;
-                        break;
-                    case "9":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2005;
-                        break;
-                    case "8":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V2000;
-                        break;
-                    case "7":
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.V7;
-                        break;
-                    default:
-                        ProductVersionName = VersionName.Other;
-                        break;
-                }
+                ProductVersionName = MapProductVersion(ProductVersion);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static VersionName MapProductVersion(string productVersion)
+        {
+            var firstPart = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(productVersion) ? "??" : productVersion.Split('.')[0];
+            switch (firstPart)
+            {
+                case "??":
+                    return VersionName.Invalid;
+                case "14":
+                    return VersionName.V2017;
+                case "13":
+                    return VersionName.V2016;
+                case "12":
+                    return VersionName.V2014;
+                case "11":
+                    return VersionName.V2012;
+                case "10":
+                    return VersionName.V2008;
+                case "9":
+                    return VersionName.V2005;
+                case "8":
+                    return VersionName.V2000;
+                case "7":
+                    return VersionName.V7;
+                default:
+                    return VersionName.Other;
             }
         }
 
@@ -136,6 +136,33 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.SqlSyntax
             }
         }
 
+        internal static VersionName GetVersionName(string connectionString, string providerName)
+        {
+            var factory = DbProviderFactories.GetFactory(providerName);
+            var connection = factory.CreateConnection();
+
+            if (connection == null)
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Could not create a connection for provider \"{providerName}\".");
+
+            connection.ConnectionString = connectionString;
+            using (connection)
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    connection.Open();
+                    var command = connection.CreateCommand();
+                    command.CommandText = "SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion');";
+                    var productVersion = command.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
+                    connection.Close();
+                    return MapProductVersion(productVersion);
+                }
+                catch
+                {
+                    return VersionName.Unknown;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// SQL Server stores default values assigned to columns as constraints, it also stores them with named values, this is the only
         /// server type that does this, therefore this method doesn't exist on any other syntax provider
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
index 2b82ec7fac..1e67993895 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/UmbracoDatabaseFactory.cs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
         private string _providerName;
         private DbProviderFactory _dbProviderFactory;
         private DatabaseType _databaseType;
+        private bool _serverVersionDetected;
         private ISqlSyntaxProvider _sqlSyntax;
         private RetryPolicy _connectionRetryPolicy;
         private RetryPolicy _commandRetryPolicy;
@@ -112,7 +113,56 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence
         public bool Configured { get; private set; }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
-        public bool CanConnect => Configured && DbConnectionExtensions.IsConnectionAvailable(_connectionString, _providerName);
+        public bool CanConnect
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                if (!Configured || !DbConnectionExtensions.IsConnectionAvailable(_connectionString, _providerName)) return false;
+
+                if (_serverVersionDetected) return true;
+
+                if (_databaseType.IsSqlServer())
+                    DetectSqlServerVersion();
+                _serverVersionDetected = true;
+
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void DetectSqlServerVersion()
+        {
+            // replace NPoco database type by a more efficient one
+
+            var setting = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Umbraco.DatabaseFactory.ServerVersion"];
+            var fromSettings = false;
+
+            if (setting.IsNullOrWhiteSpace() || !setting.StartsWith("SqlServer.")
+                || !Enum<SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName>.TryParse(setting.Substring("SqlServer.".Length), out var versionName, true))
+            {
+                versionName = SqlServerSyntaxProvider.GetVersionName(_connectionString, _providerName);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                fromSettings = true;
+            }
+
+            switch (versionName)
+            {
+                case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2008:
+                    _databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2008;
+                    break;
+                case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2012:
+                case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2014:
+                case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2016:
+                case SqlServerSyntaxProvider.VersionName.V2017:
+                    _databaseType = DatabaseType.SqlServer2012;
+                    break;
+                // else leave unchanged
+            }
+
+            _logger.Debug<UmbracoDatabaseFactory>("SqlServer {SqlServerVersion}, DatabaseType is {DatabaseType} ({Source}).",
+                versionName, _databaseType, fromSettings ? "settings" : "detected");
+        }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
         public ISqlContext SqlContext => _sqlContext;