diff --git a/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/Constants.java b/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/Constants.java
index be813aa4f0..b26b395520 100644
--- a/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/Constants.java
+++ b/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/Constants.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public final class Constants {
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XSD file name.
      */
-    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd";
+    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd";
 
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XML namespace.
diff --git a/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/Constants.java b/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/Constants.java
index 866c116f5a..4167f6c34e 100644
--- a/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/Constants.java
+++ b/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/Constants.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public final class Constants {
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XSD file name.
      */
-    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd";
+    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd";
 
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XML namespace.
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/Constants.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/Constants.java
index bb8590840f..fc10a5d98c 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/Constants.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/Constants.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public final class Constants {
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XSD file name.
      */
-    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd";
+    public static final String XSD_RUNTIME    = "jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd";
 
     /**
      * The current jooq-runtime XML namespace.
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/InterpreterSearchSchema.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/InterpreterSearchSchema.java
index 78efcfa2ca..f528c82037 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/InterpreterSearchSchema.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/InterpreterSearchSchema.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class InterpreterSearchSchema
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String catalog;
     @XmlElement(required = true)
     protected String schema;
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedCatalog.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedCatalog.java
index 63e0b4ae83..c82bf16ba2 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedCatalog.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedCatalog.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public class MappedCatalog
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String input;
     @XmlElement(type = String.class)
     @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(RegexAdapter.class)
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedSchema.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedSchema.java
index 7c817447a9..09c9a4060e 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedSchema.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedSchema.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public class MappedSchema
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String input;
     @XmlElement(type = String.class)
     @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(RegexAdapter.class)
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedTable.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedTable.java
index e24920c329..84811ba131 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedTable.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedTable.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public class MappedTable
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, MappedSchemaObject, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String input;
     @XmlElement(type = String.class)
     @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(RegexAdapter.class)
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedUDT.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedUDT.java
index 9e5e647c1d..e230c05dae 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedUDT.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MappedUDT.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public class MappedUDT
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, MappedSchemaObject, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String input;
     @XmlElement(type = String.class)
     @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(RegexAdapter.class)
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MigrationSchema.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MigrationSchema.java
index b099a01abe..8dd8bcf3fb 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MigrationSchema.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/MigrationSchema.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class MigrationSchema
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String catalog;
     @XmlElement(required = true)
     protected String schema;
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ObjectFactory.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ObjectFactory.java
index f1340d05cf..d647b1acde 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ObjectFactory.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ObjectFactory.java
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 @XmlRegistry
 public class ObjectFactory {
 
-    private final static QName _Settings_QNAME = new QName("http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd", "settings");
+    private final static QName _Settings_QNAME = new QName("http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd", "settings");
 
     /**
      * Create a new ObjectFactory that can be used to create new instances of schema derived classes for package: org.jooq.conf
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ public class ObjectFactory {
      * @return
      *     the new instance of {@link JAXBElement }{@code <}{@link Settings }{@code >}
      */
-    @XmlElementDecl(namespace = "http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd", name = "settings")
+    @XmlElementDecl(namespace = "http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd", name = "settings")
     public JAXBElement<Settings> createSettings(Settings value) {
         return new JAXBElement<Settings>(_Settings_QNAME, Settings.class, null, value);
     }
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ParseSearchSchema.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ParseSearchSchema.java
index 448401cafa..b56fde9cac 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ParseSearchSchema.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/ParseSearchSchema.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class ParseSearchSchema
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String catalog;
     @XmlElement(required = true)
     protected String schema;
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderFormatting.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderFormatting.java
index 92d82d065d..b85d4b2436 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderFormatting.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderFormatting.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class RenderFormatting
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "\n")
     protected String newline = "\n";
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "  ")
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderMapping.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderMapping.java
index 50d5c61532..3b50fbc67e 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderMapping.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/RenderMapping.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public class RenderMapping
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     protected String defaultCatalog;
     protected String defaultSchema;
     @XmlElementWrapper(name = "catalogs")
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
index 54de1d9190..38d87c838d 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public class Settings
     implements Serializable, Cloneable, XMLAppendable
 {
 
-    private final static long serialVersionUID = 31900L;
+    private final static long serialVersionUID = 32003L;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "true")
     protected Boolean forceIntegerTypesOnZeroScaleDecimals = true;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "true")
@@ -449,6 +449,8 @@ public class Settings
     @XmlSchemaType(name = "string")
     protected NestedCollectionEmulation emulateMultiset = NestedCollectionEmulation.DEFAULT;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "false")
+    protected Boolean emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation = false;
+    @XmlElement(defaultValue = "false")
     protected Boolean emulateComputedColumns = false;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "true")
     protected Boolean computedOnClientVirtual = true;
@@ -5893,6 +5895,30 @@ public class Settings
         this.emulateMultiset = value;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * [#13598] Whether nested record projections at the top level should be emulated using the <code>MULTISET</code> emulation rather than the flattening emulation, if supported by the dialect.
+     * 
+     * @return
+     *     possible object is
+     *     {@link Boolean }
+     *     
+     */
+    public Boolean isEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation() {
+        return emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * [#13598] Whether nested record projections at the top level should be emulated using the <code>MULTISET</code> emulation rather than the flattening emulation, if supported by the dialect.
+     * 
+     * @param value
+     *     allowed object is
+     *     {@link Boolean }
+     *     
+     */
+    public void setEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation(Boolean value) {
+        this.emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation = value;
+    }
+
     /**
      * [#13418] Whether computed columns should be emulated in the client.
      * <p>
@@ -9293,6 +9319,15 @@ public class Settings
         return this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * [#13598] Whether nested record projections at the top level should be emulated using the <code>MULTISET</code> emulation rather than the flattening emulation, if supported by the dialect.
+     * 
+     */
+    public Settings withEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation(Boolean value) {
+        setEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation(value);
+        return this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * [#13418] Whether computed columns should be emulated in the client.
      * <p>
@@ -10007,6 +10042,7 @@ public class Settings
         builder.append("delimiter", delimiter);
         builder.append("emulateOnDuplicateKeyUpdateOnPrimaryKeyOnly", emulateOnDuplicateKeyUpdateOnPrimaryKeyOnly);
         builder.append("emulateMultiset", emulateMultiset);
+        builder.append("emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation", emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation);
         builder.append("emulateComputedColumns", emulateComputedColumns);
         builder.append("computedOnClientVirtual", computedOnClientVirtual);
         builder.append("computedOnClientStored", computedOnClientStored);
@@ -11736,6 +11772,15 @@ public class Settings
                 return false;
             }
         }
+        if (emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation == null) {
+            if (other.emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation!= null) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        } else {
+            if (!emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation.equals(other.emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
         if (emulateComputedColumns == null) {
             if (other.emulateComputedColumns!= null) {
                 return false;
@@ -12395,6 +12440,7 @@ public class Settings
         result = ((prime*result)+((delimiter == null)? 0 :delimiter.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((emulateOnDuplicateKeyUpdateOnPrimaryKeyOnly == null)? 0 :emulateOnDuplicateKeyUpdateOnPrimaryKeyOnly.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((emulateMultiset == null)? 0 :emulateMultiset.hashCode()));
+        result = ((prime*result)+((emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation == null)? 0 :emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((emulateComputedColumns == null)? 0 :emulateComputedColumns.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((computedOnClientVirtual == null)? 0 :computedOnClientVirtual.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((computedOnClientStored == null)? 0 :computedOnClientStored.hashCode()));
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/package-info.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/package-info.java
index f8df3971f8..e3e3b3c3c2 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/package-info.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/package-info.java
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-@jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlSchema(namespace = "http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd", elementFormDefault = jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlNsForm.QUALIFIED)
+@jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlSchema(namespace = "http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd", elementFormDefault = jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlNsForm.QUALIFIED)
 package org.jooq.conf;
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractContext.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractContext.java
index d86da48f21..aab77b646e 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractContext.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractContext.java
@@ -222,6 +222,13 @@ abstract class AbstractContext<C extends Context<C>> extends AbstractScope imple
             else
                 return new DefaultScopeStackElement(k, v);
         });
+
+        if (TRUE.equals(configuration.settings().isEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation())) {
+            data(DATA_MULTISET_CONTENT, true);
+
+            if (ctx != null)
+                ctx.data(DATA_MULTISET_CONTENT, true);
+        }
     }
 
     // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractRowAsField.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractRowAsField.java
index 2979b9cad0..25f146002c 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractRowAsField.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractRowAsField.java
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ implements
 
             // All types of row expressions must be emulated using MULTISET
             // emulations if nested in some sort of MULTISET content
+            // [#13598] Users can also override the default behaviour
             TRUE.equals(ctx.data(DATA_MULTISET_CONTENT))
 
             // Row expressions of degree > 1 must also be emulated using MULTISET
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
index f5ce196aee..bfdc2720ba 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
@@ -4471,6 +4471,8 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
 
         @Override
         final Record get0(BindingGetResultSetContext<U> ctx) throws SQLException {
+            boolean skipDegree1 = !TRUE.equals(ctx.settings().isEmulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation());
+
             switch (ctx.family()) {
 
 
@@ -4479,7 +4481,7 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
 
                     // [#17979] Native ROW support may be overridden for various reasons
                     if (TRUE.equals(ctx.executeContext().data(DATA_MULTISET_CONTENT)))
-                        return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, true);
+                        return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, skipDegree1);
                     else
                         return pgNewRecord(ctx,
                             dataType.getType(),
@@ -4495,14 +4497,14 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
                     if (object == null)
                         return null;
 
-                    return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, !(object instanceof Struct));
+                    return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, skipDegree1 && !(object instanceof Struct));
                 }
 
                 default:
                     if (UDTRecord.class.isAssignableFrom(dataType.getType()))
                         return localExecuteContext(ctx.executeContext(), () -> (Record) ctx.resultSet().getObject(ctx.index(), typeMap(dataType.getType(), ctx)));
                     else
-                        return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, true);
+                        return readMultiset(ctx, dataType, skipDegree1);
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd b/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd
similarity index 99%
rename from jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd
rename to jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd
index b0eb124362..abfb22c263 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <schema
   xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
-  xmlns:jooq-runtime="http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd"
+  xmlns:jooq-runtime="http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd"
   xmlns:jxb="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/jaxb"
   xmlns:annox="http://annox.dev.java.net"
-  targetNamespace="http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd"
+  targetNamespace="http://www.jooq.org/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.3.xsd"
   elementFormDefault="qualified"
   jxb:extensionBindingPrefixes="annox"
   jxb:version="2.1">
@@ -1473,6 +1473,10 @@ jOOQ queries, for which no specific fetchSize value was specified.]]></jxb:javad
       <element name="emulateMultiset" type="jooq-runtime:NestedCollectionEmulation" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="DEFAULT">
         <annotation><appinfo><jxb:property><jxb:javadoc><![CDATA[[#3884] How <code>MULTISET</code> support should be emulated.]]></jxb:javadoc></jxb:property></appinfo></annotation>
       </element>
+
+      <element name="emulateNestedRecordProjectionsUsingMultisetEmulation" type="boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="false">
+        <annotation><appinfo><jxb:property><jxb:javadoc><![CDATA[[#13598] Whether nested record projections at the top level should be emulated using the <code>MULTISET</code> emulation rather than the flattening emulation, if supported by the dialect.]]></jxb:javadoc></jxb:property></appinfo></annotation>
+      </element>
       
       <element name="emulateComputedColumns" type="boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="false">
         <annotation><appinfo><jxb:property><jxb:javadoc><![CDATA[[#13418] Whether computed columns should be emulated in the client.