diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 122f09ee8..c5ddcef33 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+## Unreleased
+
+#### Fixed
+
+- [#1363](https://github.com/rails-sqlserver/activerecord-sqlserver-adapter/pull/1363) Verify connection before retrieving the database version.
+
 ## v7.1.11
 
 #### Fixed
diff --git a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlserver_adapter.rb b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlserver_adapter.rb
index 1e272d913..d03d3bb71 100644
--- a/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlserver_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlserver_adapter.rb
@@ -493,19 +493,19 @@ def initialize_dateformatter
       end
 
       def version_year
-        @version_year ||= begin
-          if sqlserver_version =~ /vNext/
+        @version_year ||=
+          if /vNext/.match?(sqlserver_version)
             2016
           else
             /SQL Server (\d+)/.match(sqlserver_version).to_a.last.to_s.to_i
           end
-        rescue StandardError
-          2016
-        end
       end
 
       def sqlserver_version
-        @sqlserver_version ||= _raw_select("SELECT @@version", @raw_connection).first.first.to_s
+        @sqlserver_version ||= begin
+          verify!
+          _raw_select("SELECT @@version", @raw_connection).first.first.to_s
+        end
       end
 
       private
diff --git a/test/cases/helper_sqlserver.rb b/test/cases/helper_sqlserver.rb
index 4435eb95b..30800971d 100644
--- a/test/cases/helper_sqlserver.rb
+++ b/test/cases/helper_sqlserver.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@
 require "support/connection_reflection"
 require "mocha/minitest"
 
+Minitest.after_run do
+  puts "\n\n"
+  puts "=" * 80
+  puts ActiveRecord::Base.connection.send(:sqlserver_version)
+  puts "\nSQL Server Version Year: #{ActiveRecord::Base.connection.get_database_version}"
+  puts "=" * 80
+end
+
 module ActiveRecord
   class TestCase < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     SQLServer = ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::SQLServer