diff --git a/builtin/add.c b/builtin/add.c
index c859f66519..3d5d9cfdb9 100644
--- a/builtin/add.c
+++ b/builtin/add.c
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ int cmd_add(int argc,
 		string_list_clear(&only_match_skip_worktree, 0);
 	}
 
-	transaction = odb_transaction_begin(repo->objects);
+	odb_transaction_begin_or_die(repo->objects, &transaction);
 
 	ps_matched = xcalloc(pathspec.nr, 1);
 	if (add_renormalize)
diff --git a/builtin/unpack-objects.c b/builtin/unpack-objects.c
index 59e9b8711e..1a195bf045 100644
--- a/builtin/unpack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/unpack-objects.c
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ static void unpack_all(void)
 		progress = start_progress(the_repository,
 					  _("Unpacking objects"), nr_objects);
 	CALLOC_ARRAY(obj_list, nr_objects);
-	transaction = odb_transaction_begin(the_repository->objects);
+	odb_transaction_begin_or_die(the_repository->objects, &transaction);
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_objects; i++) {
 		unpack_one(i);
 		display_progress(progress, i + 1);
diff --git a/builtin/update-index.c b/builtin/update-index.c
index 3d6646c318..17f3ea284c 100644
--- a/builtin/update-index.c
+++ b/builtin/update-index.c
@@ -1124,7 +1124,7 @@ int cmd_update_index(int argc,
 	 * Allow the object layer to optimize adding multiple objects in
 	 * a batch.
 	 */
-	transaction = odb_transaction_begin(the_repository->objects);
+	odb_transaction_begin_or_die(the_repository->objects, &transaction);
 	while (ctx.argc) {
 		if (parseopt_state != PARSE_OPT_DONE)
 			parseopt_state = parse_options_step(&ctx, options,
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 184f7e2635..8eec1d4d52 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -474,6 +474,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 
 int cache_tree_update(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
+	int inflight = !!the_repository->objects->transaction;
 	struct odb_transaction *transaction;
 	int skip, i;
 
@@ -490,10 +491,12 @@ int cache_tree_update(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 
 	trace_performance_enter();
 	trace2_region_enter("cache_tree", "update", istate->repo);
-	transaction = odb_transaction_begin(the_repository->objects);
+	if (!inflight)
+		odb_transaction_begin_or_die(the_repository->objects, &transaction);
 	i = update_one(istate->cache_tree, istate->cache, istate->cache_nr,
 		       "", 0, &skip, flags);
-	odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
+	if (!inflight)
+		odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
 	trace2_region_leave("cache_tree", "update", istate->repo);
 	trace_performance_leave("cache_tree_update");
 	if (i < 0)
diff --git a/object-file.c b/object-file.c
index 3d76b890b8..f1ec9f6a8b 100644
--- a/object-file.c
+++ b/object-file.c
@@ -1352,13 +1352,17 @@ int index_fd(struct index_state *istate, struct object_id *oid,
 
 		if (flags & INDEX_WRITE_OBJECT) {
 			struct object_database *odb = the_repository->objects;
-			struct odb_transaction *transaction = odb_transaction_begin(odb);
+			struct odb_transaction *transaction = odb->transaction;
+			int inflight = !!transaction;
 
-			ret = odb_transaction_write_object_stream(odb->transaction,
+			if (!inflight)
+				odb_transaction_begin_or_die(odb, &transaction);
+			ret = odb_transaction_write_object_stream(transaction,
 								  &stream,
 								  xsize_t(st->st_size),
 								  oid);
-			odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
+			if (!inflight)
+				odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
 		} else {
 			ret = hash_blob_stream(&stream,
 					       the_repository->hash_algo, oid,
diff --git a/odb/transaction.c b/odb/transaction.c
index b16e07aebf..b6da4a3942 100644
--- a/odb/transaction.c
+++ b/odb/transaction.c
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
+#include "gettext.h"
 #include "odb/source.h"
 #include "odb/transaction.h"
 
-struct odb_transaction *odb_transaction_begin(struct object_database *odb)
+int odb_transaction_begin(struct object_database *odb,
+			  struct odb_transaction **out)
 {
+	int ret;
+
 	if (odb->transaction)
-		return NULL;
+		return error(_("object database transaction already pending"));
 
-	odb_source_begin_transaction(odb->sources, &odb->transaction);
+	ret = odb_source_begin_transaction(odb->sources, out);
+	if (!ret)
+		odb->transaction = *out;
 
-	return odb->transaction;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 void odb_transaction_commit(struct odb_transaction *transaction)
diff --git a/odb/transaction.h b/odb/transaction.h
index d52f0533ce..f5c43187c9 100644
--- a/odb/transaction.h
+++ b/odb/transaction.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef ODB_TRANSACTION_H
 #define ODB_TRANSACTION_H
 
+#include "gettext.h"
 #include "odb.h"
 #include "odb/source.h"
 
@@ -36,11 +37,21 @@ struct odb_transaction {
 };
 
 /*
- * Starts an ODB transaction. Subsequent objects are written to the transaction
- * and not committed until odb_transaction_commit() is invoked on the
- * transaction. If the ODB already has a pending transaction, NULL is returned.
+ * Starts an ODB transaction and returns it via `out`. Subsequent objects are
+ * written to the transaction and not committed until odb_transaction_commit()
+ * is invoked on the transaction. Returns 0 on success and a negative value on
+ * error. Note that it is considered an error to start a new transaction if the
+ * ODB already has an inflight transaction pending.
  */
-struct odb_transaction *odb_transaction_begin(struct object_database *odb);
+int odb_transaction_begin(struct object_database *odb,
+			  struct odb_transaction **out);
+
+static inline void odb_transaction_begin_or_die(struct object_database *odb,
+						struct odb_transaction **out)
+{
+	if (odb_transaction_begin(odb, out))
+		die(_("failed to start ODB transaction"));
+}
 
 /*
  * Commits an ODB transaction making the written objects visible. If the
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 21829102ae..bf25989956 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -4012,6 +4012,7 @@ int add_files_to_cache(struct repository *repo, const char *prefix,
 		       const struct pathspec *pathspec, char *ps_matched,
 		       int include_sparse, int flags, int ignored_too )
 {
+	int inflight = !!repo->objects->transaction;
 	struct odb_transaction *transaction;
 	struct update_callback_data data;
 	struct rev_info rev;
@@ -4042,9 +4043,11 @@ int add_files_to_cache(struct repository *repo, const char *prefix,
 	 * This function is invoked from commands other than 'add', which
 	 * may not have their own transaction active.
 	 */
-	transaction = odb_transaction_begin(repo->objects);
+	if (!inflight)
+		odb_transaction_begin_or_die(repo->objects, &transaction);
 	run_diff_files(&rev, DIFF_RACY_IS_MODIFIED);
-	odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
+	if (!inflight)
+		odb_transaction_commit(transaction);
 
 	release_revisions(&rev);
 	return !!data.add_errors;