diff --git a/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/PanacheJpaUtil.java b/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/PanacheJpaUtil.java
index 6cfa4b97582c2..7b9719d4df1fe 100644
--- a/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/PanacheJpaUtil.java
+++ b/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/PanacheJpaUtil.java
@@ -52,11 +52,12 @@ public static String getFastCountQuery(String query) {
         Matcher selectMatcher = SELECT_PATTERN.matcher(query);
         if (selectMatcher.matches()) {
             // this one cannot be null
-            String firstSelection = selectMatcher.group(1).trim().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
-            if (firstSelection.startsWith("distinct")) {
+            String firstSelection = selectMatcher.group(1).trim();
+            String firstSelectionForMatching = firstSelection.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+            if (firstSelectionForMatching.startsWith("distinct")) {
                 // if firstSelection matched distinct only, we have something wrong in our selection list, probably functions/parens
                 // so bail out
-                if (firstSelection.length() == 8) {
+                if (firstSelectionForMatching.length() == 8) {
                     return getCountQueryUsingParser(query);
                 }
                 // this one can be null
diff --git a/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/test/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/CountTest.java b/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/test/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/CountTest.java
index a9727e2b4cd6b..4c92a8a4a468a 100644
--- a/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/test/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/CountTest.java
+++ b/extensions/panache/panache-hibernate-common/runtime/src/test/java/io/quarkus/panache/hibernate/common/runtime/CountTest.java
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ public void testFastVersion() {
         assertFastCountQuery("SELECT COUNT(*) from bar", "select foo,gee from bar");
         // one column distinct
         assertFastCountQuery("SELECT COUNT(distinct foo) from bar", "select distinct foo from bar");
+        // with case preserved
+        assertFastCountQuery("SELECT COUNT(distinct fOO) from bar", "select distinct fOO from bar");
         // two columns distinct
         Assertions.assertThrows(RuntimeException.class, () -> assertFastCountQuery("XX", "select distinct foo,gee from bar"));
         // nested order by not touched