diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 803989c3..215f7350 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@
 - PHP 8.4 forward compatibility: Added missing type hint to `SleekDbal::__get()` magic method
 - Fixed deprecated `E_STRICT` constant usage in test bootstrap
 - Fixed cURL error message assertions for cross-version compatibility
+- Fixed SleekDB paginator query-state regression where `count()` could clear criteria before paginated data fetch on the same model instance (#514)
 
 ### Added
 - `AppContext` class representing the runtime identity of a single application execution
diff --git a/src/Paginator/Adapters/ModelPaginator.php b/src/Paginator/Adapters/ModelPaginator.php
index b4bac85c..7071b35e 100644
--- a/src/Paginator/Adapters/ModelPaginator.php
+++ b/src/Paginator/Adapters/ModelPaginator.php
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 use Quantum\Paginator\Contracts\PaginatorInterface;
 use Quantum\Paginator\Traits\PaginatorTrait;
 use Quantum\App\Exceptions\BaseException;
+use Quantum\Model\Exceptions\ModelException;
 use Quantum\Di\Exceptions\DiException;
 use Quantum\Model\ModelCollection;
 use Quantum\Model\DbModel;
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ class ModelPaginator implements PaginatorInterface
     private DbModel $model;
 
     /**
-     * @throws DiException|ReflectionException
+     * @throws DiException|ReflectionException|ModelException|BaseException
      */
     public function __construct(DbModel $model, int $perPage, int $page = 1)
     {
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ public function __construct(DbModel $model, int $perPage, int $page = 1)
 
         $this->model = $model;
         $this->modelClass = $model->getModelName();
-        $this->total = $model->count();
+        $this->total = $this->getCountFromClonedModel($model);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -99,4 +100,17 @@ public function lastItem(): ?Model
 
         return $data->last();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Counts results on an isolated model/ORM clone so total calculation cannot mutate
+     * the live model query state later used by paginator data().
+     * @throws ModelException|BaseException
+     */
+    private function getCountFromClonedModel(DbModel $model): int
+    {
+        $countModel = clone $model;
+        $countModel->setOrmInstance(clone $model->getOrmInstance());
+
+        return $countModel->count();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Database/Adapters/Sleekdb/Statements/ResultSleekTest.php b/tests/Unit/Database/Adapters/Sleekdb/Statements/ResultSleekTest.php
index bcf3f83f..e1213390 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Database/Adapters/Sleekdb/Statements/ResultSleekTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Database/Adapters/Sleekdb/Statements/ResultSleekTest.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace Quantum\Tests\Unit\Database\Adapters\Sleekdb\Statements;
 
 use Quantum\Tests\Unit\Database\Adapters\Sleekdb\SleekDbalTestCase;
+use Quantum\Tests\_root\shared\Models\TestEventModel;
 use Quantum\Database\Adapters\Sleekdb\SleekDbal;
 
 class ResultSleekTest extends SleekDbalTestCase
@@ -85,4 +86,69 @@ public function testSleekAsArray(): void
 
         $this->assertIsArray($user->asArray());
     }
+
+    public function testSleekCountResetsCriteriaState(): void
+    {
+        $eventsModel = new SleekDbal('events');
+
+        $eventsModel->criteria('country', '=', 'Ireland');
+
+        $this->assertEquals(3, $eventsModel->count());
+
+        $events = $eventsModel
+            ->orderBy('title', 'asc')
+            ->get();
+
+        $this->assertCount(7, $events);
+        $this->assertEquals('Art', $events[0]->prop('title'));
+    }
+
+    public function testSleekPaginateRetainsCriteriaAfterCount(): void
+    {
+        $eventModel = model(TestEventModel::class);
+
+        $page = $eventModel
+            ->criteria('country', '=', 'Ireland')
+            ->orderBy('title', 'asc')
+            ->paginate(2, 1)
+            ->data();
+
+        $this->assertCount(2, $page);
+        $this->assertEquals('Design', $page->first()->title);
+        $this->assertEquals('Film', $page->last()->title);
+    }
+
+    public function testSleekGroupedCriteriasPersistAcrossPaginateCountAndData(): void
+    {
+        $baseline = model(TestEventModel::class)
+            ->criterias(
+                [
+                    ['title', '=', 'Dance'],
+                    ['title', '=', 'Art'],
+                ],
+                ['country', '=', 'Ireland']
+            )
+            ->orderBy('title', 'asc')
+            ->get();
+
+        $paginator = model(TestEventModel::class)
+            ->criterias(
+                [
+                    ['title', '=', 'Dance'],
+                    ['title', '=', 'Art'],
+                ],
+                ['country', '=', 'Ireland']
+            )
+            ->orderBy('title', 'asc')
+            ->paginate(10, 1);
+
+        $page = $paginator->data();
+
+        $baselineTitles = array_map(fn ($event) => $event->title, iterator_to_array($baseline));
+        $pageTitles = array_map(fn ($event) => $event->title, iterator_to_array($page));
+
+        $this->assertSame(count($baseline), $paginator->total());
+        $this->assertCount(count($baseline), $page);
+        $this->assertSame($baselineTitles, $pageTitles);
+    }
 }