diff --git a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/Parameter.java b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/Parameter.java
index 858111ca9..5d97369f3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/Parameter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/Parameter.java
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ void setValue(JDBCType jdbcType, Object value, JavaType javaType, StreamSetterAr
         // the value with the appropriate corresponding Unicode type.
         // JavaType.OBJECT == javaType when calling setNull()
         if (con.sendStringParametersAsUnicode() && (JavaType.STRING == javaType || JavaType.READER == javaType
-                || JavaType.CLOB == javaType || JavaType.OBJECT == javaType)) {
+                || JavaType.CLOB == javaType || JavaType.OBJECT == javaType) && jdbcType != JDBCType.VARCHAR) {
             jdbcType = getSSPAUJDBCType(jdbcType);
         }
 
@@ -423,10 +423,14 @@ void setValue(JDBCType jdbcType, Object value, JavaType javaType, StreamSetterAr
         newDTV.setValue(con.getDatabaseCollation(), jdbcType, value, javaType, streamSetterArgs, calendar, scale, con,
                 forceEncrypt);
 
-        if (!con.sendStringParametersAsUnicode()) {
+        if (!con.sendStringParametersAsUnicode() || (con.sendStringParametersAsUnicode() && jdbcType == JDBCType.VARCHAR)) {
             newDTV.sendStringParametersAsUnicode = false;
         }
 
+        if (con.sendStringParametersAsUnicode() && jdbcType == JDBCType.VARCHAR && (!con.getDatabaseCollation().isUtf8Encoding() || con.getServerMajorVersion() < 15)) {
+            throw new SQLServerException(SQLServerException.getErrString("R_possibleColumnDataCorruption"), null);
+        }
+
         inputDTV = setterDTV = newDTV;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLCollation.java b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLCollation.java
index e7369bfe1..afafe80da 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLCollation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLCollation.java
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ final boolean hasAsciiCompatibleSBCS() {
         return encoding.hasAsciiCompatibleSBCS();
     }
 
+    boolean isUtf8Encoding() {
+        return encoding.equals(Encoding.UTF8);
+    }
+
     static final int tdsLength() {
         return TDS_LENGTH;
     } // Length of collation in TDS (in bytes)
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLServerResource.java b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLServerResource.java
index 9055e9add..d5d73c3f4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLServerResource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLServerResource.java
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ protected Object[][] getContents() {
         {"R_invalidDatetimeType", "The datetimeType connection property {0} is not valid."},
         {"R_dataAlreadyAccessed", "The data has been accessed and is not available for this column or parameter."},
         {"R_outParamsNotPermittedinBatch", "The OUT and INOUT parameters are not permitted in a batch."},
+        {"R_possibleColumnDataCorruption", "Attempted to insert encrypted unicode data into non-unicode column. Data corruption may occur."},
         {"R_colNotMatchTable", "Number of provided columns {0} does not match the table definition {1}."},
         {"R_invalidSQL", "Invalid SQL query {0}."},
         {"R_multipleQueriesNotAllowed", "Multiple queries are not allowed."},