@AmyStephen - It's a quick work around to get around an error situation in those environments (so it can be included in our 3.1.5 hotfix dealing with our other large scale issues).  We are aware of exactly what causes the issue; [JDatabaseDriverSqlsrv::limit()](https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/blob/master/libraries/joomla/database/driver/sqlsrv.php#L992-1020) and how it injects the needed syntax into the query (the syntax is injected after the first FROM element in the query).  Unfortunately, I don't think we have the resources to get a proper fix into this method in the next day or two, so this is the best interim solution until the proper fix can be implemented and this band-aid can be removed.