diff --git a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlText.java b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlText.java
index 2c0d9cd8fac..afff3a7c29f 100644
--- a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlText.java
+++ b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlText.java
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ final class HqlText {
 
     private HqlText(String hql) {
         text = hql.trim();
+        String group = firstQueryGroup(text);
+        HqlText analyzed = group.equals(text) ? null : new HqlText(group);
+
         String lower = lowerCaseKeepingLength(text);
         SqlText scan = SqlText.hql(lower);
         selectIndex = scan.indexOfTopLevel(SELECT + " ", 0);
@@ -82,15 +85,13 @@ private HqlText(String hql) {
             clauseOriginal = clauseOriginal.substring(prefix.length()).trim();
             clauseLower = clauseLower.substring(prefix.length()).trim();
         }
-        projectionCount = count;
-        selectClauseLower = clauseLower;
-        rootAlias = readRootAlias(lower);
+        String alias = readRootAlias(lower);
 
         // the normalized form: an unaliased root gets the alias e, and the projection is qualified with it
         String rewritten = text;
         String rewrittenClause = clauseLower;
-        String rewrittenRootAlias = rootAlias;
-        if (selectIndex >= 0 && fromIndex >= 0) {
+        String rewrittenRootAlias = alias;
+        if (analyzed == null && selectIndex >= 0 && fromIndex >= 0) {
             int afterFrom = fromIndex + FROM.length() + 2;
             int entityEnd = afterFrom;
             while (entityEnd < text.length() && !Character.isWhitespace(text.charAt(entityEnd))) entityEnd++;
@@ -103,11 +104,39 @@ private HqlText(String hql) {
                 rewrittenRootAlias = SYNTHETIC_ALIAS;
             }
         }
+        if (analyzed != null) {
+            count = analyzed.projectionCount;
+            clauseLower = analyzed.selectClauseLower;
+            alias = analyzed.rootAlias;
+            rewritten = text;
+            rewrittenClause = analyzed.normalizedClause;
+            rewrittenRootAlias = analyzed.normalizedRootAlias;
+        }
+        projectionCount = count;
+        selectClauseLower = clauseLower;
+        rootAlias = alias;
         normalized = rewritten;
         normalizedClause = rewrittenClause;
         normalizedRootAlias = rewrittenRootAlias;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The interior of a leading parenthesized group, unwrapped while the text starts with one. The projections
+     * and the result type are read from that group, whether a set operator, {@code limit} or anything else follows
+     * it. An unclosed group is left as written. This is not the text sent to Hibernate.
+     */
+    private static String firstQueryGroup(String text) {
+        String current = text;
+        while (current.startsWith("(")) {
+            int close = SqlText.hql(current).closingParen(0);
+            if (close < 0) {
+                return current;
+            }
+            current = current.substring(1, close).trim();
+        }
+        return current;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Lowercases the text character by character, so that every index of the lowercase text is the same index of
      * the original: {@code String.toLowerCase} can lengthen a text, as it does for the dotted capital I of a
@@ -156,7 +185,8 @@ int projectionCount() {
      * {@code select Person from Person} becomes {@code select e from Person e}. Only the select and from of the
      * query itself are read, not those of a subquery, and what precedes the select, such as a comment or the
      * {@code with} clause of a common table expression, is kept. A query that already aliases its root, or has no
-     * select or from, is returned as it is.
+     * select or from, is returned as it is. A query that starts with a parenthesized group is returned as written:
+     * the group is read for the result type, and a later select is left unchanged.
      */
     String normalized() {
         return normalized;
diff --git a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/SqlText.java b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/SqlText.java
index f44279ede57..f0c8024e95c 100644
--- a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/SqlText.java
+++ b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/SqlText.java
@@ -117,6 +117,26 @@ int indexOfTopLevel(String keyword, int fromIndex) {
         return -1;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the index of the {@code )} that closes the {@code (} at {@code openIndex}. The two parentheses of a
+     * pair carry the same depth, and a parenthesis inside a string literal, a quoted identifier or a comment is not
+     * part of a pair.
+     *
+     * @return the index, or -1 when {@code openIndex} is not a plain {@code (} or the group is not closed
+     */
+    int closingParen(int openIndex) {
+        if (openIndex < 0 || openIndex >= text.length() || kind[openIndex] != PLAIN || text.charAt(openIndex) != '(') {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        int opened = depth[openIndex];
+        for (int i = openIndex + 1; i < text.length(); i++) {
+            if (kind[i] == PLAIN && text.charAt(i) == ')' && depth[i] == opened) {
+                return i;
+            }
+        }
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Splits the text at the separators outside string literals, quoted identifiers, comments and parentheses, and
      * trims each part. A text without the separator is one part.
diff --git a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/grails/gorm/tests/HqlSelectResultTypeSpec.groovy b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/grails/gorm/tests/HqlSelectResultTypeSpec.groovy
index f983e61baaa..a016560bdfd 100644
--- a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/grails/gorm/tests/HqlSelectResultTypeSpec.groovy
+++ b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/grails/gorm/tests/HqlSelectResultTypeSpec.groovy
@@ -71,6 +71,42 @@ class HqlSelectResultTypeSpec extends HibernateGormDatastoreSpec {
         books*.title == ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']
         books.every { it instanceof HqlResultTypeBook }
     }
+
+    void 'executeQuery infers scalar results from a parenthesized root query: #hql'() {
+        expect:
+        List results = HqlResultTypeBook.executeQuery(hql)
+        results.sort() == expected
+        results.every { resultType.isInstance(it) }
+
+        where:
+        hql                                                                                                                   | expected                                                | resultType
+        '(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b)'                                                                            | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        '((select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b))'                                                                          | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        '( select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b )'                                                                          | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        "(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b where b.title <> ')')"                                                       | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        '(/* ignore ) and ( */ select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b)'                                                       | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        '(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b where b.author.id in (select a.id from HqlResultTypeAuthor a))'               | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']                      | String
+        '(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b) union (select a.name from HqlResultTypeAuthor a)'                             | ['Austen', 'Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit', 'Tolkien']  | String
+        "(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b) union select 'extra' from HqlResultTypeBook"                                   | ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit', 'extra']              | String
+    }
+
+    void 'parenthesized root queries retain entity aggregate and tuple results'() {
+        expect:
+        HqlResultTypeBook.executeQuery('(select b from HqlResultTypeBook b order by b.title)')*.title == ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit']
+        HqlResultTypeBook.executeQuery('(select count(b) from HqlResultTypeBook b)') == [3L]
+        HqlResultTypeBook.executeQuery('(select b.title, b.author.name from HqlResultTypeBook b order by b.title)')
+                .collect { it as List } == [['Emma', 'Austen'], ['Persuasion', 'Austen'], ['The Hobbit', 'Tolkien']]
+    }
+
+    void 'executeQuery infers a scalar from a parenthesized query followed by limit'() {
+        when:
+        List results = HqlResultTypeBook.executeQuery('(select b.title from HqlResultTypeBook b) limit 1')
+
+        then:
+        results.size() == 1
+        results[0] instanceof String
+        ['Emma', 'Persuasion', 'The Hobbit'].contains(results[0])
+    }
 }
 
 @Entity
diff --git a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlQueryContextSpec.groovy b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlQueryContextSpec.groovy
index d2ad34de6a0..a031b2159a0 100644
--- a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlQueryContextSpec.groovy
+++ b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlQueryContextSpec.groovy
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ class HqlQueryContextSpec extends Specification {
         "select title, (select count(*) from Author) from Book" | "select title, (select count(*) from Author) from Book e" | Object[]
         "/* the book's (title) */ select title from Book"       | "/* the book's (title) */ select e.title from Book e"     | Object
         "SELECT DISTINCT title FROM Book"                       | "select distinct e.title from Book e"                     | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b)'                          | '(select b.title from Book b)'                           | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b) union (select a.name from Author a)' | '(select b.title from Book b) union (select a.name from Author a)' | Object
+        "(select b.title from Book b) union select 'extra' from Book" | "(select b.title from Book b) union select 'extra' from Book" | Object
     }
 
     @Unroll
diff --git a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlTextSpec.groovy b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlTextSpec.groovy
index c61ce41a251..d0d496a0ab4 100644
--- a/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlTextSpec.groovy
+++ b/grails-data-hibernate7/core/src/test/groovy/org/grails/orm/hibernate/query/HqlTextSpec.groovy
@@ -56,6 +56,28 @@ class HqlTextSpec extends Specification {
         'select b from Book b /* , not a projection */'        | 1     | 'b'           | 'b'   | 'select b from Book b /* , not a projection */'         | Book
         'select m[1], b from Book b'                           | 2     | 'm[1], b'     | 'b'   | 'select m[1], b from Book b'                            | Object[]
         'from Book b where b.height--1 > 0 select b.width'     | 1     | 'b.width'     | 'b'   | 'from Book b where b.height--1 > 0 select b.width'      | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b)'                         | 1     | 'b.title'     | 'b'   | '(select b.title from Book b)'                          | Object
+        '((select b.title from Book b))'                       | 1     | 'b.title'     | 'b'   | '((select b.title from Book b))'                        | Object
+        '( select b.title from Book b )'                       | 1     | 'b.title'     | 'b'   | '( select b.title from Book b )'                        | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b) union (select a.name from Author a)' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '(select b.title from Book b) union (select a.name from Author a)' | Object
+        "(select b.title from Book b) union select 'extra' from Book" | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | "(select b.title from Book b) union select 'extra' from Book" | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b) union all (select a.name from Author a)' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '(select b.title from Book b) union all (select a.name from Author a)' | Object
+        '((select b.title from Book b) union all (select a.name from Author a))' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '((select b.title from Book b) union all (select a.name from Author a))' | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b) /* ) select ignored from ignored */ union (select a.name from Author a)' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '(select b.title from Book b) /* ) select ignored from ignored */ union (select a.name from Author a)' | Object
+        "(select b.title from Book b where b.title <> ')')"    | 1     | 'b.title'     | 'b'   | "(select b.title from Book b where b.title <> ')')"     | Object
+        "(select 'it''s ), select x from y' from Book b)"      | 1     | "'it''s ), select x from y'" | 'b' | "(select 'it''s ), select x from y' from Book b)" | Object
+        '(select b."title), from ignored" from Book b)'        | 1     | 'b."title), from ignored"' | 'b' | '(select b."title), from ignored" from Book b)' | Object
+        '(select b.`title), from ignored` from Book b)'        | 1     | 'b.`title), from ignored`' | 'b' | '(select b.`title), from ignored` from Book b)' | Object
+        '(/* ignore ) and ( select x from y */ select b.title from Book b)' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '(/* ignore ) and ( select x from y */ select b.title from Book b)' | Object
+        '(select b.title /* ), ignored */ from Book b)'        | 1     | 'b.title /* ), ignored */' | 'b' | '(select b.title /* ), ignored */ from Book b)' | Object
+        '(select b.height--1 from Book b)'                     | 1     | 'b.height--1' | 'b'   | '(select b.height--1 from Book b)'                      | Object
+        '(select b.title, b.author from Book b)'               | 2     | 'b.title, b.author' | 'b' | '(select b.title, b.author from Book b)'           | Object[]
+        '(select count(b) from Book b)'                        | 1     | 'count(b)'    | 'b'   | '(select count(b) from Book b)'                         | null
+        '(select distinct b from Book b)'                      | 1     | 'b'           | 'b'   | '(select distinct b from Book b)'                       | Book
+        '(select Book from Book)'                              | 1     | 'book'        | null  | '(select Book from Book)'                               | Book
+        '(select b from Book b where b.id in (select a.id from Author a))' | 1 | 'b'    | 'b'   | '(select b from Book b where b.id in (select a.id from Author a))' | Book
+        '(select b.title from Book b) limit 1'                 | 1     | 'b.title'     | 'b'   | '(select b.title from Book b) limit 1'                  | Object
+        '(select b.title from Book b) unionized (select a.name from Author a)' | 1 | 'b.title' | 'b' | '(select b.title from Book b) unionized (select a.name from Author a)' | Object
         ''                                                     | 0     | null          | null  | ''                                                      | Book
     }