diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/QueryUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/QueryUtils.java
index f5b655967..609833103 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/QueryUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/QueryUtils.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * @author Grégoire Druant
  * @author Mohammad Hewedy
  * @author Andriy Redko
+ * @author Peter Großmann
  */
 public abstract class QueryUtils {
 
@@ -103,7 +104,7 @@ public abstract class QueryUtils {
 
 	private static final Pattern ALIAS_MATCH;
 	private static final Pattern COUNT_MATCH;
-	private static final Pattern PROJECTION_CLAUSE = Pattern.compile("select\\s+(.+)\\s+from", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
+	private static final Pattern PROJECTION_CLAUSE = Pattern.compile("select\\s+(?:distinct\\s+)?(.+?)\\s+from", Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
 
 	private static final Pattern NO_DIGITS = Pattern.compile("\\D+");