diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql.go b/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql.go
index c45a3fe5480..8be66327c00 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/setting"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util"
@@ -146,5 +147,12 @@ func (t *mssqlQueryResultTransformer) TransformQueryResult(columnTypes []*sql.Co
 }
 
 func (t *mssqlQueryResultTransformer) TransformQueryError(err error) error {
+	// go-mssql overrides source error, so we currently match on string
+	// ref https://github.com/denisenkom/go-mssqldb/blob/045585d74f9069afe2e115b6235eb043c8047043/tds.go#L904
+	if strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(err.Error()), "unable to open tcp connection with host") {
+		t.log.Error("query error", "err", err)
+		return sqleng.ErrConnectionFailed
+	}
+
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql_test.go
index ec2688d875f..9f8e6a770dd 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/mssql/mssql_test.go
@@ -10,11 +10,13 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/securejsondata"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/log"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/models"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/plugins"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/sqlstore/sqlutil"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/sqleng"
 	. "github.com/smartystreets/goconvey/convey"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"xorm.io/xorm"
 )
 
@@ -1137,6 +1139,28 @@ func TestMSSQL(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestTransformQueryError(t *testing.T) {
+	transformer := &mssqlQueryResultTransformer{
+		log: log.New("test"),
+	}
+
+	randomErr := fmt.Errorf("random error")
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		err         error
+		expectedErr error
+	}{
+		{err: fmt.Errorf("Unable to open tcp connection with host 'localhost:5000': dial tcp: connection refused"), expectedErr: sqleng.ErrConnectionFailed},
+		{err: fmt.Errorf("unable to open tcp connection with host 'localhost:5000': dial tcp: connection refused"), expectedErr: sqleng.ErrConnectionFailed},
+		{err: randomErr, expectedErr: randomErr},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		resultErr := transformer.TransformQueryError(tc.err)
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, resultErr, tc.expectedErr)
+	}
+}
+
 func InitMSSQLTestDB(t *testing.T) *xorm.Engine {
 	testDB := sqlutil.MSSQLTestDB()
 	x, err := xorm.NewEngine(testDB.DriverName, strings.Replace(testDB.ConnStr, "localhost",
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine.go b/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine.go
index f7b18da9cd5..8e5ae16efed 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine.go
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ import (
 	"container/list"
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
+	"net"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -29,6 +31,8 @@ import (
 // MetaKeyExecutedQueryString is the key where the executed query should get stored
 const MetaKeyExecutedQueryString = "executedQueryString"
 
+var ErrConnectionFailed = errors.New("failed to connect to server - please inspect Grafana server log for details")
+
 // SQLMacroEngine interpolates macros into sql. It takes in the Query to have access to query context and
 // timeRange to be able to generate queries that use from and to.
 type SQLMacroEngine interface {
@@ -184,7 +188,7 @@ func (e *dataPlugin) DataQuery(ctx context.Context, dsInfo *models.DataSource,
 
 			rows, err := db.Query(rawSQL)
 			if err != nil {
-				queryResult.Error = e.queryResultTransformer.TransformQueryError(err)
+				queryResult.Error = e.transformQueryError(err)
 				ch <- queryResult
 				return
 			}
@@ -431,6 +435,20 @@ func (e *dataPlugin) transformToTimeSeries(query plugins.DataSubQuery, rows *cor
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (e *dataPlugin) transformQueryError(err error) error {
+	// OpError is the error type usually returned by functions in the net
+	// package. It describes the operation, network type, and address of
+	// an error. We log this error rather than returing it to the client
+	// for security purposes.
+	var opErr *net.OpError
+	if errors.As(err, &opErr) {
+		e.log.Error("query error", "err", err)
+		return ErrConnectionFailed
+	}
+
+	return e.queryResultTransformer.TransformQueryError(err)
+}
+
 type processCfg struct {
 	rowCount           int
 	columnTypes        []*sql.ColumnType
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine_test.go
index 43768683ca5..23fc2e8dbaf 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/sqleng/sql_engine_test.go
@@ -1,15 +1,20 @@
 package sqleng
 
 import (
+	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
+	"net"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/null"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/log"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/models"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/plugins"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"xorm.io/core"
 )
 
 func TestSQLEngine(t *testing.T) {
@@ -309,4 +314,41 @@ func TestSQLEngine(t *testing.T) {
 			})
 		}
 	})
+
+	t.Run("Should handle connection errors", func(t *testing.T) {
+		randomErr := fmt.Errorf("random error")
+
+		tests := []struct {
+			err                                   error
+			expectedErr                           error
+			expectQueryResultTransformerWasCalled bool
+		}{
+			{err: &net.OpError{Op: "Dial"}, expectedErr: ErrConnectionFailed, expectQueryResultTransformerWasCalled: false},
+			{err: randomErr, expectedErr: randomErr, expectQueryResultTransformerWasCalled: true},
+		}
+
+		for _, tc := range tests {
+			transformer := &testQueryResultTransformer{}
+			dp := dataPlugin{
+				log:                    log.New("test"),
+				queryResultTransformer: transformer,
+			}
+			resultErr := dp.transformQueryError(tc.err)
+			assert.ErrorIs(t, resultErr, tc.expectedErr)
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectQueryResultTransformerWasCalled, transformer.transformQueryErrorWasCalled)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+type testQueryResultTransformer struct {
+	transformQueryErrorWasCalled bool
+}
+
+func (t *testQueryResultTransformer) TransformQueryResult(columnTypes []*sql.ColumnType, rows *core.Rows) (plugins.DataRowValues, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (t *testQueryResultTransformer) TransformQueryError(err error) error {
+	t.transformQueryErrorWasCalled = true
+	return err
 }