diff --git a/Dapper/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/Dapper/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index 91b0e1a43..cf9343ccf 100644
--- a/Dapper/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/Dapper/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-#nullable enable
\ No newline at end of file
+#nullable enable
+static Dapper.SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums.get -> bool
+static Dapper.SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums.set -> void
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dapper/SqlMapper.Settings.cs b/Dapper/SqlMapper.Settings.cs
index cbbc3c687..c19835c11 100644
--- a/Dapper/SqlMapper.Settings.cs
+++ b/Dapper/SqlMapper.Settings.cs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static Settings()
             public static void SetDefaults()
             {
                 CommandTimeout = null;
-                ApplyNullValues = PadListExpansions = UseIncrementalPseudoPositionalParameterNames = false;
+                ApplyNullValues = PadListExpansions = UseIncrementalPseudoPositionalParameterNames = PreferTypeHandlersForEnums = false;
                 AllowedCommandBehaviors = DefaultAllowedCommandBehaviors;
                 FetchSize = InListStringSplitCount = -1;
             }
@@ -129,6 +129,13 @@ public static long FetchSize
             /// </summary>
             public static bool SupportLegacyParameterTokens { get; set; } = true;
 
+            /// <summary>
+            /// When true, Dapper checks for a registered TypeHandler for enum types before
+            /// falling back to the default behavior of sending enums as their underlying integer type.
+            /// This enables custom enum serialization (e.g. storing enums as strings), while preserving existing behavior.
+            /// </summary>
+            public static bool PreferTypeHandlersForEnums { get; set; }
+
             private static long s_FetchSize = -1;
         }
     }
diff --git a/Dapper/SqlMapper.cs b/Dapper/SqlMapper.cs
index d23e949a5..6210e307e 100644
--- a/Dapper/SqlMapper.cs
+++ b/Dapper/SqlMapper.cs
@@ -465,6 +465,10 @@ public static void SetDbType(IDataParameter parameter, object value)
             if (nullUnderlyingType is not null) type = nullUnderlyingType;
             if (type.IsEnum && !typeMap.ContainsKey(type))
             {
+                if (Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums && typeHandlers.TryGetValue(type, out handler))
+                {
+                    return DbType.Object;
+                }
                 type = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(type);
             }
             if (typeMap.TryGetValue(type, out var mapEntry))
@@ -2751,7 +2755,12 @@ private static bool IsValueTuple(Type? type) => (type?.IsValueType == true
 
                     if ((nullType ?? propType).IsEnum)
                     {
-                        if (nullType is not null)
+                        if (handler is not null)
+                        {
+                            // TypeHandler registered - box as the enum type, handler does conversion
+                            checkForNull = nullType is not null;
+                        }
+                        else if (nullType is not null)
                         {
                             // Nullable<SomeEnum>; we want to box as the underlying type; that's just *hard*; for
                             // simplicity, box as Nullable<SomeEnum> and call SanitizeParameterValue
@@ -3097,7 +3106,16 @@ private static Func<DbDataReader, object> GetSimpleValueDeserializer(Type type,
 #pragma warning restore 618
 
             if (effectiveType.IsEnum)
-            {   // assume the value is returned as the correct type (int/byte/etc), but box back to the typed enum
+            {
+                if (Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums && typeHandlers.TryGetValue(type, out var enumHandler))
+                {
+                    return r =>
+                    {
+                        var val = r.GetValue(index);
+                        return val is DBNull ? null! : enumHandler.Parse(type, val)!;
+                    };
+                }
+                // assume the value is returned as the correct type (int/byte/etc), but box back to the typed enum
                 return r =>
                 {
                     var val = r.GetValue(index);
@@ -3160,6 +3178,10 @@ private static T Parse<T>(object? value)
             type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type) ?? type;
             if (type.IsEnum)
             {
+                if (Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums && typeHandlers.TryGetValue(type, out ITypeHandler? enumHandler))
+                {
+                    return (T)enumHandler.Parse(type, value)!;
+                }
                 if (value is float || value is double || value is decimal)
                 {
                     value = Convert.ChangeType(value, Enum.GetUnderlyingType(type), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
@@ -3738,22 +3760,31 @@ private static void LoadReaderValueOrBranchToDBNullLabel(ILGenerator il, int ind
 
                 if (unboxType.IsEnum)
                 {
-                    Type numericType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(unboxType);
-                    if (colType == typeof(string))
+                    if (Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums && typeHandlers.ContainsKey(unboxType))
                     {
-                        stringEnumLocal ??= il.DeclareLocal(typeof(string));
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Castclass, typeof(string)); // stack is now [...][string]
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Stloc, stringEnumLocal); // stack is now [...]
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldtoken, unboxType); // stack is now [...][enum-type-token]
-                        il.EmitCall(OpCodes.Call, typeof(Type).GetMethod(nameof(Type.GetTypeFromHandle))!, null);// stack is now [...][enum-type]
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, stringEnumLocal); // stack is now [...][enum-type][string]
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldc_I4_1); // stack is now [...][enum-type][string][true]
-                        il.EmitCall(OpCodes.Call, enumParse, null); // stack is now [...][enum-as-object]
-                        il.Emit(OpCodes.Unbox_Any, unboxType); // stack is now [...][typed-value]
+#pragma warning disable 618
+                        il.EmitCall(OpCodes.Call, typeof(TypeHandlerCache<>).MakeGenericType(unboxType).GetMethod(nameof(TypeHandlerCache<int>.Parse))!, null); // stack is now [...][typed-value]
+#pragma warning restore 618
                     }
                     else
                     {
-                        FlexibleConvertBoxedFromHeadOfStack(il, colType, unboxType, numericType);
+                        Type numericType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(unboxType);
+                        if (colType == typeof(string))
+                        {
+                            stringEnumLocal ??= il.DeclareLocal(typeof(string));
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Castclass, typeof(string)); // stack is now [...][string]
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Stloc, stringEnumLocal); // stack is now [...]
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldtoken, unboxType); // stack is now [...][enum-type-token]
+                            il.EmitCall(OpCodes.Call, typeof(Type).GetMethod(nameof(Type.GetTypeFromHandle))!, null);// stack is now [...][enum-type]
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, stringEnumLocal); // stack is now [...][enum-type][string]
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Ldc_I4_1); // stack is now [...][enum-type][string][true]
+                            il.EmitCall(OpCodes.Call, enumParse, null); // stack is now [...][enum-as-object]
+                            il.Emit(OpCodes.Unbox_Any, unboxType); // stack is now [...][typed-value]
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            FlexibleConvertBoxedFromHeadOfStack(il, colType, unboxType, numericType);
+                        }
                     }
 
                     if (nullUnderlyingType is not null)
diff --git a/tests/Dapper.Tests/PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests.cs b/tests/Dapper.Tests/PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..958f0d546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Dapper.Tests/PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+using System;
+using System.Data;
+using System.Linq;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace Dapper.Tests
+{
+    [Collection(NonParallelDefinition.Name)]
+    public sealed class SystemSqlClientPreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests : PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests<SystemSqlClientProvider> { }
+#if MSSQLCLIENT
+    [Collection(NonParallelDefinition.Name)]
+    public sealed class MicrosoftSqlClientPreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests : PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests<MicrosoftSqlClientProvider> { }
+#endif
+
+    public abstract class PreferTypeHandlersForEnumsTests<TProvider> : TestBase<TProvider> where TProvider : DatabaseProvider
+    {
+        private enum Color
+        {
+            Red = 1,
+            Green = 2,
+            Blue = 3
+        }
+
+        private class ColorResult
+        {
+            public Color Value { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        private class NullableColorResult
+        {
+            public Color? Value { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// A TypeHandler that stores enum values as their name strings
+        /// and parses them back from strings.
+        /// </summary>
+        private class StringEnumHandler<TEnum> : SqlMapper.TypeHandler<TEnum> where TEnum : struct, Enum
+        {
+            public static readonly StringEnumHandler<TEnum> Instance = new();
+            public int ParseCallCount;
+            public int SetValueCallCount;
+
+            public override TEnum Parse(object? value)
+            {
+                ParseCallCount++;
+                return (TEnum)Enum.Parse(typeof(TEnum), (string)value!);
+            }
+
+            public override void SetValue(IDbDataParameter parameter, TEnum value)
+            {
+                SetValueCallCount++;
+                parameter.DbType = DbType.AnsiString;
+                parameter.Value = value.ToString();
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void EnumTypeHandler_WriteAndRead_UsesHandlerWhenEnabled()
+        {
+            var handler = new StringEnumHandler<Color>();
+            var oldSetting = SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums;
+            try
+            {
+                SqlMapper.ResetTypeHandlers();
+                SqlMapper.AddTypeHandler(typeof(Color), handler);
+                SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums = true;
+                SqlMapper.PurgeQueryCache();
+
+                // Round-trip: write as string, read back via handler
+                var result = connection.Query<ColorResult>(
+                    "SELECT @Value AS Value", new { Value = Color.Green }).Single();
+
+                Assert.Equal(Color.Green, result.Value);
+                Assert.True(handler.SetValueCallCount > 0, "SetValue should have been called");
+                Assert.True(handler.ParseCallCount > 0, "Parse should have been called");
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums = oldSetting;
+                SqlMapper.ResetTypeHandlers();
+                SqlMapper.PurgeQueryCache();
+            }
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void EnumTypeHandler_NullableWithNull_ReturnsNull()
+        {
+            var handler = new StringEnumHandler<Color>();
+            var oldSetting = SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums;
+            try
+            {
+                SqlMapper.ResetTypeHandlers();
+                SqlMapper.AddTypeHandler(typeof(Color), handler);
+                SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums = true;
+                SqlMapper.PurgeQueryCache();
+
+                Color? input = null;
+                var result = connection.Query<NullableColorResult>(
+                    "SELECT @Value AS Value", new { Value = input }).Single();
+
+                Assert.Null(result.Value);
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                SqlMapper.Settings.PreferTypeHandlersForEnums = oldSetting;
+                SqlMapper.ResetTypeHandlers();
+                SqlMapper.PurgeQueryCache();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}