diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtils.java
index d8baf0d48..1b8124bac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtils.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2016 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.hibernate.Query;
+import org.springframework.data.util.Version;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.ReflectionUtils;
 
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ public abstract class HibernateUtils {
 
 	private static final Class<?> HIBERNATE_QUERY_INTERFACE;
 	private static final Method QUERY_STRING_METHOD;
+	private static final Version HIBERNATE_VERSION;
 
 	private HibernateUtils() {}
 
@@ -66,6 +68,10 @@ public abstract class HibernateUtils {
 		HIBERNATE_QUERY_INTERFACE = queryInterface == null ? type : queryInterface;
 		QUERY_STRING_METHOD = HIBERNATE_QUERY_INTERFACE == null ? null
 				: ReflectionUtils.findMethod(HIBERNATE_QUERY_INTERFACE, "getQueryString");
+
+		String versionSource = org.hibernate.Version.getVersionString();
+
+		HIBERNATE_VERSION = Version.parse(versionSource.substring(0, versionSource.lastIndexOf('.')));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -87,4 +93,14 @@ public abstract class HibernateUtils {
 
 		return ((Query) ReflectionUtils.invokeMethod(GET_HIBERNATE_QUERY, query)).getQueryString();
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns whether the currently used version of Hibernate is equal to or newer than the given one.
+	 *
+	 * @param version must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static boolean isVersionOrBetter(Version version) {
+		return HIBERNATE_VERSION.isGreaterThanOrEqualTo(version);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/NativeJpaQuery.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/NativeJpaQuery.java
index d025d4a0d..4ed902638 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/NativeJpaQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/query/NativeJpaQuery.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2013-2016 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2013-2017 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@ import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
 import javax.persistence.Query;
 import javax.persistence.Tuple;
 
+import org.springframework.data.jpa.provider.HibernateUtils;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.EvaluationContextProvider;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.Parameters;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.RepositoryQuery;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.ResultProcessor;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.ReturnedType;
+import org.springframework.data.util.Version;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser;
 
 /**
@@ -36,6 +38,8 @@ import org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser;
  */
 final class NativeJpaQuery extends AbstractStringBasedJpaQuery {
 
+	private static final Version HIBERNATE_VERSION_SUPPORTING_TUPLES = new Version(5, 2, 11);
+
 	private final Class<?> resultType;
 
 	/**
@@ -88,7 +92,8 @@ final class NativeJpaQuery extends AbstractStringBasedJpaQuery {
 			return result;
 		}
 
-		return returnedType.isProjecting() && !getMetamodel().isJpaManaged(returnedType.getReturnedType()) ? Tuple.class
+		return returnedType.isProjecting() && !getMetamodel().isJpaManaged(returnedType.getReturnedType()) //
+				? HibernateUtils.isVersionOrBetter(HIBERNATE_VERSION_SUPPORTING_TUPLES) ? Tuple.class : null //
 				: result;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtilsUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtilsUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f07a99fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/provider/HibernateUtilsUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.jpa.provider;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.data.util.Version;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link HibernateUtils}.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+public class HibernateUtilsUnitTests {
+
+	static final Version HIBERNATE_BASELINE = new Version(3, 6, 10);
+
+	@Test
+	public void looksUpHibernateVersion() {
+		assertThat(HibernateUtils.isVersionOrBetter(HIBERNATE_BASELINE), is(true));
+	}
+}