diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index e99fecee87..6919714b80 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ We adhere to the [keepachangelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) format (
 ## [Unreleased]
 ### Fixed
 - GrEclipse no longer leaves a `file%3A...` directory in the working directory. ([#2019](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2019))
+- DBeaver SQL formatter no longer prints an `IndexOutOfBoundsException` when a file starts with a keyword like `SET`. ([#1552](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/1552))
 - `ExpandWildcardImportsStep` no longer fails with `Symbol resolution not configured` on records and other syntax newer than Java 11, and leaves files JavaParser cannot validate unchanged. ([#2946](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2946))
 - `removeSemicolons()` no longer removes semicolons inside dollar-slashy strings (`$/ ... /$`), after escaped triple quotes in multiline strings, or in multi-line `for (init; cond; update)` headers. ([#2780](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2780))
 - `RemoveUnusedImportsStep` and `GoogleJavaFormatStep` no longer remove imports that are only used by links in Markdown doc comments (`///`, JDK 23+). ([#3161](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/3161))
diff --git a/lib/src/main/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/dbeaver/SQLTokenizedFormatter.java b/lib/src/main/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/dbeaver/SQLTokenizedFormatter.java
index bad5d4a64a..af38b1631b 100644
--- a/lib/src/main/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/dbeaver/SQLTokenizedFormatter.java
+++ b/lib/src/main/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/dbeaver/SQLTokenizedFormatter.java
@@ -431,6 +431,10 @@ && isCommentLine(SQL_DIALECT, token.getString())
 			boolean isDelimiter = statementDelimiters.contains(token.getString().toUpperCase(Locale.ENGLISH));
 
 			if (!isDelimiter) {
+				if (argIndex == 0) {
+					// nothing precedes the first token, so there is no line to break
+					return 0;
+				}
 				token = argList.get(argIndex - 1);
 				if (token.getType() == TokenType.SPACE) {
 					token.setString(s.toString());
diff --git a/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md b/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
index 5549a0da75..cf27bf38ca 100644
--- a/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
+++ b/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ We adhere to the [keepachangelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) format (
 - `SpotlessApply` now only reports that it did work (and is otherwise `UP-TO-DATE`) when it actually rewrote a file. ([#2715](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2715))
 ### Fixed
 - GrEclipse no longer leaves a `file%3A...` directory in the working directory. ([#2019](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2019))
+- DBeaver SQL formatter no longer prints an `IndexOutOfBoundsException` when a file starts with a keyword like `SET`. ([#1552](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/1552))
 - `expandWildcardImports()` no longer fails with `Symbol resolution not configured` on records and other syntax newer than Java 11, and leaves files JavaParser cannot validate unchanged. ([#2946](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2946))
 - String `targetExclude` patterns ending in `/**` (e.g. `**/build/**`) are now applied as exclude patterns on String `target`s, so excluded directories are skipped while walking the target instead of walking the whole project directory, which made configuration cache store and reuse scale with the size of the project. ([#3147](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/3147))
 - `removeSemicolons()` no longer removes semicolons inside dollar-slashy strings (`$/ ... /$`), after escaped triple quotes in multiline strings, or in multi-line `for (init; cond; update)` headers. ([#2780](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2780))
diff --git a/plugin-maven/CHANGES.md b/plugin-maven/CHANGES.md
index 9e50104b9e..9243f36af2 100644
--- a/plugin-maven/CHANGES.md
+++ b/plugin-maven/CHANGES.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ We adhere to the [keepachangelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) format (
   List `spotless-maven-plugin` under `<reporting>` and run `mvn site`: the page shows which files need formatting, with a colored diff for each, and their lint problems. It works with `maven-site-plugin` 3.12.1 and 3.20.0 or later.
 ### Fixed
 - GrEclipse no longer leaves a `file%3A...` directory in the working directory. ([#2019](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2019))
+- DBeaver SQL formatter no longer prints an `IndexOutOfBoundsException` when a file starts with a keyword like `SET`. ([#1552](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/1552))
 - `<expandWildcardImports>` no longer fails with `Symbol resolution not configured` on records and other syntax newer than Java 11, and leaves files JavaParser cannot validate unchanged. ([#2946](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2946))
 - `<removeSemicolons/>` no longer removes semicolons inside dollar-slashy strings (`$/ ... /$`), after escaped triple quotes in multiline strings, or in multi-line `for (init; cond; update)` headers. ([#2780](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/2780))
 - `<removeUnusedImports>` and `<googleJavaFormat>` no longer remove imports that are only used by links in Markdown doc comments (`///`, JDK 23+). ([#3161](https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/3161))
diff --git a/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.clean b/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.clean
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30e7fdc679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.clean
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+SET
+MODE PostgreSQL;
diff --git a/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.dirty b/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.dirty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81ae754394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testlib/src/main/resources/sql/dbeaver/set-mode.dirty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+SET MODE PostgreSQL;
diff --git a/testlib/src/test/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/DBeaverSQLFormatterStepTest.java b/testlib/src/test/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/DBeaverSQLFormatterStepTest.java
index 648ddc6669..24c6be0b19 100644
--- a/testlib/src/test/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/DBeaverSQLFormatterStepTest.java
+++ b/testlib/src/test/java/com/diffplug/spotless/sql/DBeaverSQLFormatterStepTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2016-2024 DiffPlug
+ * Copyright 2016-2026 DiffPlug
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  */
 package com.diffplug.spotless.sql;
 
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -39,6 +43,22 @@ void behavior() {
 				.testResource("sql/dbeaver/jdbi-params.dirty", "sql/dbeaver/jdbi-params.clean");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void keywordAtStartOfFileDoesNotThrow() {
+		// https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/issues/1552
+		PrintStream originalErr = System.err;
+		ByteArrayOutputStream err = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+		System.setErr(new PrintStream(err, true));
+		try {
+			FormatterStep step = DBeaverSQLFormatterStep.create(Collections.emptySet());
+			StepHarness.forStep(step)
+					.testResource("sql/dbeaver/set-mode.dirty", "sql/dbeaver/set-mode.clean");
+		} finally {
+			System.setErr(originalErr);
+		}
+		assertThat(err.toString()).isEmpty();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void behaviorWithConfigFile() {
 		FormatterStep step = DBeaverSQLFormatterStep.create(createTestFiles("sql/dbeaver/sqlConfig.properties"));