diff --git a/src/Connection.php b/src/Connection.php
index d21764ca..8dfc9cfa 100644
--- a/src/Connection.php
+++ b/src/Connection.php
@@ -276,14 +276,10 @@ public function rollbackSavepoint(string $name)
 	/** @inheritdoc */
 	public function ping(): bool
 	{
-		try {
-			$this->connected || $this->connect();
-			return $this->driver->ping();
-
-		} catch (DriverException $e) {
-			$this->reconnect();
+		if (!$this->connected) {
 			return false;
 		}
+		return $this->driver->ping();
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/src/Drivers/Sqlsrv/SqlsrvDriver.php b/src/Drivers/Sqlsrv/SqlsrvDriver.php
index ff1fba43..202bafeb 100644
--- a/src/Drivers/Sqlsrv/SqlsrvDriver.php
+++ b/src/Drivers/Sqlsrv/SqlsrvDriver.php
@@ -166,7 +166,12 @@ public function getServerVersion(): string
 
 	public function ping(): bool
 	{
-		return sqlsrv_begin_transaction($this->connection);
+		try {
+			$this->query('SELECT 1');
+			return true;
+		} catch (DriverException $e) {
+			return false;
+		}
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/src/IConnection.php b/src/IConnection.php
index cbd8abd6..27def4ab 100644
--- a/src/IConnection.php
+++ b/src/IConnection.php
@@ -122,7 +122,11 @@ public function rollbackSavepoint(string $name);
 
 
 	/**
-	 * Pings a database connection and tries to reconnect it if it is broken.
+	 * Pings a database connection and returns true if the connection is alive.
+	 * @example
+	 *     if (!$connection->ping()) {
+	 *         $connection->reconnect();
+	 *     }
 	 * @return bool
 	 */
 	public function ping(): bool;
diff --git a/tests/cases/integration/connection.phpt b/tests/cases/integration/connection.phpt
index ddd21a2d..ee7a87a3 100644
--- a/tests/cases/integration/connection.phpt
+++ b/tests/cases/integration/connection.phpt
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ class ConnectionTest extends IntegrationTestCase
 	public function testPing()
 	{
 		Assert::false($this->connection->getDriver()->isConnected());
-		$this->connection->ping();
+		Assert::false($this->connection->ping());
+		Assert::false($this->connection->getDriver()->isConnected());
+		$this->connection->connect();
 		Assert::true($this->connection->getDriver()->isConnected());
+		Assert::true($this->connection->ping());
 	}
 
 
@@ -41,8 +44,6 @@ class ConnectionTest extends IntegrationTestCase
 		Assert::same([
 			'connect',
 			'disconnect',
-			'connect',
-			'disconnect',
 		], $log);
 	}