diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/SQLServer2008Dialect.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/SQLServer2008Dialect.java
index eab4943d09..2e4d998ee2 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/SQLServer2008Dialect.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/SQLServer2008Dialect.java
@@ -25,20 +25,86 @@ package org.hibernate.dialect;
 
 import java.sql.Types;
 
-import org.hibernate.Hibernate;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.function.NoArgSQLFunction;
+import org.hibernate.type.StandardBasicTypes;
 
 /**
  * A dialect for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 with JDBC Driver 3.0 and above
- *
+ * 
  * @author Gavin King
  */
 public class SQLServer2008Dialect extends SQLServerDialect {
-	public SQLServer2008Dialect(){
-		registerColumnType( Types.DATE, "date" );
-		registerColumnType( Types.TIME, "time" );
-		registerColumnType( Types.TIMESTAMP, "datetime2" );
-		
-		registerFunction( "current_timestamp", new NoArgSQLFunction("current_timestamp", Hibernate.TIMESTAMP,false) );
+	public SQLServer2008Dialect() {
+		registerColumnType(Types.DATE, "date");
+		registerColumnType(Types.TIME, "time");
+		registerColumnType(Types.TIMESTAMP, "datetime2");
+
+		registerFunction("current_timestamp", new NoArgSQLFunction("current_timestamp", StandardBasicTypes.TIMESTAMP, false));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Add a LIMIT clause to the given SQL SELECT (HHH-2655: ROW_NUMBER for Paging)
+	 * 
+	 * The LIMIT SQL will look like:
+	 * 
+	 * <pre>
+	 * WITH query AS (SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY orderby) as __hibernate_row_nr__, original_query_without_orderby) 
+	 * SELECT * FROM query WHERE __hibernate_row_nr__ BEETWIN offset AND offset + last 
+	 * --ORDER BY __hibernate_row_nr__
+	 * </pre>
+	 * 
+	 * I don't think that the last order by clause is mandatory
+	 * 
+	 * @param querySqlString
+	 *            The SQL statement to base the limit query off of.
+	 * @param offset
+	 *            Offset of the first row to be returned by the query (zero-based)
+	 * @param limit
+	 *            Maximum number of rows to be returned by the query
+	 * @return A new SQL statement with the LIMIT clause applied.
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public String getLimitString(String querySqlString, int offset, int limit) {
+		if (offset == 0) return super.getLimitString(querySqlString, offset, limit);
+
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(querySqlString.trim());
+
+		String querySqlLowered = querySqlString.trim().toLowerCase();
+		int orderByIndex = querySqlLowered.toLowerCase().indexOf("order by");
+		String orderby = orderByIndex > 0 ? querySqlString.substring(orderByIndex) : "ORDER BY CURRENT_TIMESTAMP";
+
+		// Delete the order by clause at the end of the query
+		if (orderByIndex > 0) sb.delete(orderByIndex, orderByIndex + orderby.length());
+
+		// Find the end of the select statement
+		int selectIndex = querySqlLowered.trim().startsWith("select distinct") ? 15 : 6;
+
+		// Isert after the select statement the row_number() function:
+		sb.insert(selectIndex, " ROW_NUMBER() OVER (" + orderby + ") as __hibernate_row_nr__,");
+
+		// Wrap the query within a with statement:
+		sb.insert(0, "WITH query AS (").append(") SELECT * FROM query ");
+		sb.append("WHERE __hibernate_row_nr__ ");
+		if (offset > 0) sb.append("BETWEEN ").append(offset).append(" AND ").append(limit);
+		else sb.append(" <= ").append(limit);
+
+		// As mentioned before I don't think that we really need this last order by clause
+		// sb.append(" ORDER BY __hibernate_row_nr__");
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean supportsLimit() {
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean supportsLimitOffset() {
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean bindLimitParametersFirst() {
+		return false;
 	}
 }