The operation could not be performed because OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL" for linked server "ServerB" was unable to begin a distributed transaction

A Tale As Old As Time... - I have a Linked Server setup to a 3rd party database which I have no ownership or access to otherwise. Lets call it ServerB. I have a stored procedure (SomeStoredProcedure) that selects from Linked Server ServerB. If I explicitly set the isolation level to SERIALIZABLE and then try to insert the results of SomeStoredProcedure into a local temp table, I get the following error: > OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL" for linked server "ServerB" returned message "The parameter is incorrect.". > > Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 > > The OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL" for linked server "ServerB" reported an error. One or more arguments were reported invalid by the provider. > > Msg 7391, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 > > The operation could not be performed because OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL" for linked server "ServerB" was unable to begin a distributed transaction. If I just execute the procedure directly (without inserting the results into a local temp table) it works. If I don't use the SERIALIZABLE isolation level, it also works. (Other explicit isolation levels work as well.) I have tried disabling Enable Promotion of Distributed Transactions for RPC as mentioned in other answers: But no dice, same error: I understand that the query wants to promote to a distributed transaction for the above scenario since a Linked Server is involved (I assume enforcing SERIALIZABLE isolation is more involved across a remote server). But is it possible to prevent it from promoting to a distributed transaction under these circumstances? The same issue is reproducible using sp_executesql to select from the Linked Server as well. Repro code for example:

SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE;

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #LocalTempTable;
CREATE TABLE #LocalTempTable (ID INT);

INSERT INTO #LocalTempTable (ID)
EXEC sp_executesql N'SELECT ID FROM ServerB.DatabaseName.SchemaName.SomeTable;';

*Reminder: I don't own this 3rd party server, and can't change any settings on it such as actually enabling the MSDTC.