diff --git a/src/Database/Driver/Sqlserver.php b/src/Database/Driver/Sqlserver.php
index 3d7531cf9b7..de65f4aa309 100644
--- a/src/Database/Driver/Sqlserver.php
+++ b/src/Database/Driver/Sqlserver.php
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ class Sqlserver extends Driver
      * @var array
      */
     protected $_baseConfig = [
-        'persistent' => false,
         'host' => 'localhost\SQLEXPRESS',
         'username' => '',
         'password' => '',
@@ -54,8 +53,14 @@ class Sqlserver extends Driver
     ];
 
     /**
-     * Establishes a connection to the database server
+     * Establishes a connection to the database server.
      *
+     * Please note that the PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT attribute is not supported by
+     * the SQL Server PHP PDO drivers.  As a result you cannot use the
+     * persistent config option when connecting to a SQL Server  (for more
+     * information see: https://github.com/Microsoft/msphpsql/issues/65).
+     *
+     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException if an unsupported setting is in the driver config
      * @return bool true on success
      */
     public function connect()
@@ -64,8 +69,12 @@ public function connect()
             return true;
         }
         $config = $this->_config;
+
+        if (isset($config['persistent']) && $config['persistent']) {
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Config setting "persistent" cannot be set to true, as the Sqlserver PDO driver does not support PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT');
+        }
+
         $config['flags'] += [
-            PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => $config['persistent'],
             PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
             PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
         ];
diff --git a/tests/TestCase/Database/Driver/SqlserverTest.php b/tests/TestCase/Database/Driver/SqlserverTest.php
index ff80aa93338..080dd251437 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase/Database/Driver/SqlserverTest.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase/Database/Driver/SqlserverTest.php
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ public function testConnectionConfigCustom()
     {
         $this->skipIf($this->missingExtension, 'pdo_sqlsrv is not installed.');
         $config = [
-            'persistent' => false,
             'host' => 'foo',
             'username' => 'Administrator',
             'password' => 'blablabla',
@@ -121,7 +120,6 @@ public function testConnectionConfigCustom()
 
         $expected = $config;
         $expected['flags'] += [
-            PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => false,
             PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
             PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
             PDO::SQLSRV_ATTR_ENCODING => 'a-language'
@@ -159,6 +157,74 @@ public function testConnectionConfigCustom()
         $driver->connect();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test connecting to Sqlserver with persistent set to false
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testConnectionPersistentFalse()
+    {
+        $this->skipIf($this->missingExtension, 'pdo_sqlsrv is not installed.');
+        $config = [
+            'persistent' => false,
+            'host' => 'foo',
+            'username' => 'Administrator',
+            'password' => 'blablabla',
+            'database' => 'bar',
+            'encoding' => 'a-language',
+        ];
+        $driver = $this->getMockBuilder('Cake\Database\Driver\Sqlserver')
+            ->setMethods(['_connect', 'connection'])
+            ->setConstructorArgs([$config])
+            ->getMock();
+        $dsn = 'sqlsrv:Server=foo;Database=bar;MultipleActiveResultSets=false';
+
+        $expected = $config;
+        $expected['flags'] = [
+            PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
+            PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
+            PDO::SQLSRV_ATTR_ENCODING => 'a-language'
+        ];
+        $expected['attributes'] = [];
+        $expected['settings'] = [];
+        $expected['init'] = [];
+        $expected['app'] = null;
+        $expected['connectionPooling'] = null;
+        $expected['failoverPartner'] = null;
+        $expected['loginTimeout'] = null;
+        $expected['multiSubnetFailover'] = null;
+
+        $driver->expects($this->once())->method('_connect')
+            ->with($dsn, $expected);
+
+        $driver->connect();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test if attempting to connect with the driver throws an exception when
+     * using an invalid config setting.
+     *
+     * @expectedException \InvalidArgumentException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage Config setting "persistent" cannot be set to true, as the Sqlserver PDO driver does not support PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testConnectionPersistentTrueException()
+    {
+        $this->skipIf($this->missingExtension, 'pdo_sqlsrv is not installed.');
+        $config = [
+            'persistent' => true,
+            'host' => 'foo',
+            'username' => 'Administrator',
+            'password' => 'blablabla',
+            'database' => 'bar',
+        ];
+        $driver = $this->getMockBuilder('Cake\Database\Driver\Sqlserver')
+            ->setMethods(['_connect', 'connection'])
+            ->setConstructorArgs([$config])
+            ->getMock();
+        $driver->connect();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Test select with limit only and SQLServer2012+
      *