diff --git a/docs/src/main/asciidoc/spanner.adoc b/docs/src/main/asciidoc/spanner.adoc
index 492cb7a06a4..b05e67c8042 100644
--- a/docs/src/main/asciidoc/spanner.adoc
+++ b/docs/src/main/asciidoc/spanner.adoc
@@ -1170,13 +1170,14 @@ The SQL query for the method can be mapped to repository methods in one of two w
 The names of the tags of the SQL correspond to the `@Param` annotated names of the method parameters.
 
 Interleaved properties are loaded eagerly, unless they are annotated with `@Interleaved(lazy = true)`.
+For a custom SQL query without a `Sort` or `Pageable` parameter, eager interleaved properties are loaded after the parent query so that the query's `ORDER BY`, `LIMIT`, and `OFFSET` clauses retain their Cloud Spanner semantics.
+This may execute additional queries to load the interleaved properties.
 
 Custom SQL query methods can accept a single `Sort` or `Pageable` parameter that is applied on top of the specified custom query.
-It is the recommended way to control the sort order of the results, which is not guaranteed by the `ORDER BY` clause in the SQL query.
-This is due to the fact that the user-provided query is used as a sub-query, and Cloud Spanner doesn't preserve order in subquery results.
+When supplied, it is the recommended way to control the final sort order because it is applied to the outer query.
 
 You might want to use `ORDER BY` with `LIMIT` to obtain the top records, according to a specified order.
-However, to ensure the correct sort order of the final result set, sort options have to be passed in with a `Pageable`.
+If a `Pageable` parameter is also used, include the desired sort options in the `Pageable`.
 
 [source, java]
 ----
diff --git a/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SpannerStatementQueryExecutor.java b/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SpannerStatementQueryExecutor.java
index b4d38bd3837..45ac47203eb 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SpannerStatementQueryExecutor.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SpannerStatementQueryExecutor.java
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ public static <A, T> List<A> executeQuery(
    *     eager-Interleaved lists with a single query. Please note, it doesn't make sense to pass it
    *     as {@code true} when the {@code sql} already contains a complete lists of all
    *     eager-Interleaved properties generated by the method {@link #getColumnsStringForSelect}.
+   *     This option is ignored when no sorting or paging option requires wrapping the query.
    * @param <T> the domain type.
    * @return the final SQL string with paging and sorting applied.
    * @see #getColumnsStringForSelect
@@ -182,13 +183,12 @@ public static <T> String applySortingPagingQueryOptions(
       String sql,
       SpannerMappingContext mappingContext,
       boolean fetchInterleaved) {
-    // Cloud Spanner does not preserve the order of derived tables so we must not wrap the
-    // derived table
-    // in SELECT * FROM () if there is no overriding pageable param.
+    // Cloud Spanner does not preserve the order of derived tables, so do not wrap a custom query
+    // solely to fetch interleaved properties. SpannerTemplate resolves properties that are absent
+    // from the result after mapping, which preserves ORDER BY, LIMIT, and OFFSET in the custom SQL.
     if ((options.getSort() == null || options.getSort().isUnsorted())
         && options.getLimit() == null
-        && options.getOffset() == null
-        && !fetchInterleaved) {
+        && options.getOffset() == null) {
       return sql;
     }
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SqlSpannerQueryTests.java b/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SqlSpannerQueryTests.java
index 79e952362ba..b38e93015cb 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SqlSpannerQueryTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-gcp-data-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spring/data/spanner/repository/query/SqlSpannerQueryTests.java
@@ -156,15 +156,9 @@ private <T> SqlSpannerQuery<T> createQuery(
   void noPageableParamQueryTest(boolean useValueExpressionDelegate) throws NoSuchMethodException {
     String sql =
         "SELECT DISTINCT * FROM "
-            + ":com.google.cloud.spring.data.spanner.repository.query.SqlSpannerQueryTests$Trade:";
-    // @formatter:off
-    String entityResolvedSql =
-        "SELECT *, ARRAY (SELECT AS STRUCT disabled, id, childId, value, ARRAY (SELECT AS STRUCT"
-            + " canceled, documentId, id, childId, content FROM documents WHERE (documents.id ="
-            + " children.id AND documents.childId = children.childId) AND (canceled = false)) AS"
-            + " documents FROM children WHERE (children.id = trades.id) AND (disabled = false)) AS"
-            + " children FROM (SELECT DISTINCT * FROM trades) trades";
-    // @formatter:on
+            + ":com.google.cloud.spring.data.spanner.repository.query.SqlSpannerQueryTests$Trade:"
+            + " ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 3";
+    String entityResolvedSql = "SELECT DISTINCT * FROM trades ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 3";
 
     final Class toReturn = Trade.class;
     when(queryMethod.isCollectionQuery()).thenReturn(false);