diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
index 87094e7..47dc558 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
@@ -504,7 +504,30 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _limit($sql, $limit, $offset)
 	{
-		return preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 TOP '.($limit + $offset).' ', $sql);
+		// As of SQL Server 2012 (11.0.*) OFFSET is supported
+		if (version_compare($this->version(), '11', '>='))
+		{
+			return $sql.' OFFSET '.(int) $offset.' ROWS FETCH NEXT '.(int) $limit.' ROWS ONLY';
+		}
+
+		$limit = $offset + $limit;
+
+		// As of SQL Server 2005 (9.0.*) ROW_NUMBER() is supported,
+		// however an ORDER BY clause is required for it to work
+		if (version_compare($this->version(), '9', '>=') && $offset && ! empty($this->qb_orderby))
+		{
+			$orderby = 'ORDER BY '.implode(', ', $this->qb_orderby);
+
+			// We have to strip the ORDER BY clause
+			$sql = trim(substr($sql, 0, strrpos($sql, 'ORDER BY '.$orderby)));
+
+			return 'SELECT '.(count($this->qb_select) === 0 ? '*' : implode(', ', $this->qb_select))." FROM (\n"
+				.preg_replace('/^(SELECT( DISTINCT)?)/i', '\\1 ROW_NUMBER() OVER('.$orderby.') AS '.$this->escape_identifiers('CI_rownum').', ', $sql)
+				."\n) ".$this->escape_identifiers('CI_subquery')
+				."\nWHERE ".$this->escape_identifiers('CI_rownum').' BETWEEN '.((int) $offset + 1).' AND '.$limit;
+		}
+
+		return preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 TOP '.$limit.' ', $sql);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
index eebd6bf..825c024 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
@@ -463,9 +463,28 @@
 	protected function _limit($sql, $limit, $offset)
 	{
 		// As of SQL Server 2012 (11.0.*) OFFSET is supported
-		return version_compare($this->version(), '11', '>=')
-			? $sql.' OFFSET '.(int) $offset.' ROWS FETCH NEXT '.(int) $limit.' ROWS ONLY'
-			: preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 TOP '.($limit + $offset).' ', $sql);
+		if (version_compare($this->version(), '11', '>='))
+		{
+			return $sql.' OFFSET '.(int) $offset.' ROWS FETCH NEXT '.(int) $limit.' ROWS ONLY';
+		}
+
+		$limit = $offset + $limit;
+
+		// An ORDER BY clause is required for ROW_NUMBER() to work
+		if ($offset && ! empty($this->qb_orderby))
+		{
+			$orderby = 'ORDER BY '.implode(', ', $this->qb_orderby);
+
+			// We have to strip the ORDER BY clause
+			$sql = trim(substr($sql, 0, strrpos($sql, 'ORDER BY '.$orderby)));
+
+			return 'SELECT '.(count($this->qb_select) === 0 ? '*' : implode(', ', $this->qb_select))." FROM (\n"
+				.preg_replace('/^(SELECT( DISTINCT)?)/i', '\\1 ROW_NUMBER() OVER('.$orderby.') AS '.$this->escape_identifiers('CI_rownum').', ', $sql)
+				."\n) ".$this->escape_identifiers('CI_subquery')
+				."\nWHERE ".$this->escape_identifiers('CI_rownum').' BETWEEN '.((int) $offset + 1).' AND '.$limit;
+		}
+
+		return preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 TOP '.$limit.' ', $sql);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index 259f4e7..03b541e 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
 	 - Added support for optimize_table() in :doc:`Database Utility <database/utilities>`.
 	 - Added escaping with QUOTE_IDENTIFIER setting detection.
 	 - Added port handling support for UNIX-based systems (MSSQL driver).
-	 - Added OFFSET support for SQL Server 2012 and above.
+	 - Added OFFSET support for SQL Server 2005 and above.
    -  Improved support of the Oracle (OCI8) driver, including:
 	 -  Added DSN string support (Easy Connect and TNS).
 	 -  Added support for dropping tables to :doc:`Database Forge <database/forge>`.