diff --git a/cql3/selection/selection.cc b/cql3/selection/selection.cc
index 8c02f47406..73fa9293fa 100644
--- a/cql3/selection/selection.cc
+++ b/cql3/selection/selection.cc
@@ -263,9 +263,11 @@ selection::collect_metadata(schema_ptr schema, const std::vector<::shared_ptr<ra
     return r;
 }
 
-result_set_builder::result_set_builder(const selection& s, gc_clock::time_point now, cql_serialization_format sf)
+result_set_builder::result_set_builder(const selection& s, gc_clock::time_point now, cql_serialization_format sf,
+                                       std::vector<size_t> group_by_cell_indices)
     : _result_set(std::make_unique<result_set>(::make_shared<metadata>(*(s.get_result_metadata()))))
     , _selectors(s.new_selectors())
+    , _group_by_cell_indices(std::move(group_by_cell_indices))
     , _now(now)
     , _cql_serialization_format(sf)
 {
diff --git a/cql3/selection/selection.hh b/cql3/selection/selection.hh
index 3cc5c9cffb..458c9aaa65 100644
--- a/cql3/selection/selection.hh
+++ b/cql3/selection/selection.hh
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ class result_set_builder {
 private:
     std::unique_ptr<result_set> _result_set;
     std::unique_ptr<selectors> _selectors;
+    const std::vector<size_t> _group_by_cell_indices; ///< Indices in \c current of cells holding GROUP BY values.
 public:
     std::optional<std::vector<bytes_opt>> current;
 private:
@@ -306,7 +307,8 @@ public:
         bool do_filter(const selection& selection, const std::vector<bytes>& pk, const std::vector<bytes>& ck, const query::result_row_view& static_row, const query::result_row_view& row) const;
     };
 
-    result_set_builder(const selection& s, gc_clock::time_point now, cql_serialization_format sf);
+    result_set_builder(const selection& s, gc_clock::time_point now, cql_serialization_format sf,
+                       std::vector<size_t> group_by_cell_indices = {});
     void add_empty();
     void add(bytes_opt value);
     void add(const column_definition& def, const query::result_atomic_cell_view& c);
diff --git a/cql3/statements/select_statement.cc b/cql3/statements/select_statement.cc
index edd6b0d20b..ef8baa8cab 100644
--- a/cql3/statements/select_statement.cc
+++ b/cql3/statements/select_statement.cc
@@ -317,7 +317,8 @@ select_statement::do_execute(service::storage_proxy& proxy,
     // An aggregation query will never be paged for the user, but we always page it internally to avoid OOM.
     // If we user provided a page_size we'll use that to page internally (because why not), otherwise we use our default
     // Note that if there are some nodes in the cluster with a version less than 2.0, we can't use paging (CASSANDRA-6707).
-    const bool aggregate = _selection->is_aggregate();
+    // Also note: all GROUP BY queries are considered aggregation.
+    const bool aggregate = _selection->is_aggregate() || has_group_by();
     const bool nonpaged_filtering = restrictions_need_filtering && page_size <= 0;
     if (aggregate || nonpaged_filtering) {
         page_size = DEFAULT_COUNT_PAGE_SIZE;
@@ -339,7 +340,7 @@ select_statement::do_execute(service::storage_proxy& proxy,
     if (aggregate || nonpaged_filtering) {
         return do_with(
                 cql3::selection::result_set_builder(*_selection, now,
-                        options.get_cql_serialization_format()),
+                        options.get_cql_serialization_format(), *_group_by_cell_indices),
                 [this, p, page_size, now, timeout_duration, restrictions_need_filtering](auto& builder) {
                     return do_until([p] {return p->is_exhausted();},
                             [p, &builder, page_size, now, timeout_duration] {
diff --git a/cql3/statements/select_statement.hh b/cql3/statements/select_statement.hh
index 5516f621d1..5f4dab64c0 100644
--- a/cql3/statements/select_statement.hh
+++ b/cql3/statements/select_statement.hh
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ public:
 
     ::shared_ptr<restrictions::statement_restrictions> get_restrictions() const;
 
+    bool has_group_by() { return _group_by_cell_indices && !_group_by_cell_indices->empty(); }
+
 protected:
     uint32_t do_get_limit(const query_options& options, ::shared_ptr<term> limit) const;
     uint32_t get_limit(const query_options& options) const {