diff --git a/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorTask.java b/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorTask.java
index 7472f6aab..5b2917ccf 100644
--- a/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorTask.java
+++ b/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorTask.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import io.debezium.DebeziumException;
 import io.debezium.bean.StandardBeanNames;
 import io.debezium.config.CommonConnectorConfig;
 import io.debezium.config.Configuration;
@@ -137,6 +138,14 @@ public ChangeEventSourceCoordinator<SqlServerPartition, SqlServerOffsetContext>
                 connectorConfig.getTableFilters().dataCollectionFilter(),
                 DataChangeEvent::new,
                 metadataProvider,
+                connectorConfig.createHeartbeat(
+                        topicNamingStrategy,
+                        schemaNameAdjuster,
+                        connectionFactory::newConnection,
+                        exception -> {
+                            final String sqlErrorId = exception.getMessage();
+                            throw new DebeziumException("Could not execute heartbeat action query (Error: " + sqlErrorId + ")", exception);
+                        }),
                 schemaNameAdjuster,
                 signalProcessor);
 
diff --git a/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/test/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorIT.java b/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/test/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorIT.java
index 5e2d5badd..6f323de3c 100644
--- a/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/test/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorIT.java
+++ b/debezium-connector-sqlserver/src/test/java/io/debezium/connector/sqlserver/SqlServerConnectorIT.java
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
 import io.debezium.data.VerifyRecord;
 import io.debezium.doc.FixFor;
 import io.debezium.embedded.AbstractConnectorTest;
+import io.debezium.heartbeat.DatabaseHeartbeatImpl;
 import io.debezium.junit.ConditionalFail;
 import io.debezium.junit.Flaky;
 import io.debezium.junit.logging.LogInterceptor;
@@ -3259,6 +3260,45 @@ public void shouldOnlyCaptureTableSchemaForIncluded() throws Exception {
         assertNoRecordsToConsume();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @FixFor("DBZ-7801")
+    public void shouldExecuteHeartbeatActionQuery() throws Exception {
+        try {
+            connection.execute("CREATE TABLE dbo.heartbeat (id int primary key, data DATETIME)");
+            TestHelper.enableTableCdc(connection, "heartbeat");
+
+            connection.execute("INSERT INTO dbo.heartbeat (id, data) values (1, current_timestamp)");
+
+            Configuration config = TestHelper.defaultConfig()
+                    .with(SqlServerConnectorConfig.SNAPSHOT_MODE, SqlServerConnectorConfig.SnapshotMode.NO_DATA)
+                    .with(SqlServerConnectorConfig.TABLE_INCLUDE_LIST, "dbo.heartbeat")
+                    .with(SqlServerConnectorConfig.STORE_ONLY_CAPTURED_DATABASES_DDL, "true")
+                    .with(DatabaseHeartbeatImpl.HEARTBEAT_ACTION_QUERY, "UPDATE dbo.heartbeat set data = current_timestamp")
+                    .with(DatabaseHeartbeatImpl.HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL, 1000)
+                    .build();
+
+            start(SqlServerConnector.class, config);
+            assertConnectorIsRunning();
+
+            waitForStreamingStarted();
+
+            Awaitility.await().atMost(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS).until(() -> {
+                final SourceRecords records = consumeRecordsByTopic(1);
+                final List<SourceRecord> heartbeatRecords = records.recordsForTopic("server1.testDB1.dbo.heartbeat");
+                return heartbeatRecords != null && !heartbeatRecords.isEmpty();
+            });
+
+            // stop connector and clean-up any potential residual heartbeat events
+            stopConnector((success) -> {
+                consumeAvailableRecords(r -> {
+                });
+            });
+        }
+        finally {
+            TestHelper.disableTableCdc(connection, "heartbeat");
+        }
+    }
+
     private void purgeDatabaseLogs() throws SQLException {
 
         TestHelper.disableTableCdc(connection, "tablea");
diff --git a/documentation/modules/ROOT/pages/connectors/sqlserver.adoc b/documentation/modules/ROOT/pages/connectors/sqlserver.adoc
index c6dfba7d1..a19865d8b 100644
--- a/documentation/modules/ROOT/pages/connectors/sqlserver.adoc
+++ b/documentation/modules/ROOT/pages/connectors/sqlserver.adoc
@@ -3061,6 +3061,16 @@ This may result in more change events to be re-sent after a connector restart.
 Set this parameter to `0` to not send heartbeat messages at all. +
 Disabled by default.
 
+|[[sqlserver-property-heartbeat-action-query]]<<sqlserver-property-heartbeat-action-query, `+heartbeat.action.query+`>>
+|No default
+|Specifies a query that the connector executes on the source database when the connector sends a heartbeat message. +
++
+This is useful for keeping offsets from becoming stale when capturing changes from a low-traffic database. Create a heartbeat table in the low-traffic database, and set this property to a statement that inserts records into that table, for example:  +
++
+`INSERT INTO test_heartbeat_table (text) VALUES ('test_heartbeat')` +
++
+This allows the connector to receive changes from the low-traffic database and acknowledge their LSNs, which prevents offsets from become stale.
+
 |[[sqlserver-property-snapshot-delay-ms]]<<sqlserver-property-snapshot-delay-ms, `+snapshot.delay.ms+`>>
 |No default
 |An interval in milli-seconds that the connector should wait before taking a snapshot after starting up; +