SQL Server Error 3903

Error number

3903

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

1

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

All supported SQL Server versions (2016 to 2025), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance

Category

Transactions

Last reviewed

24 October 2026

What it means

Error 3903 means ROLLBACK ran when the session had no open transaction (@@TRANCOUNT was 0), usually in error-handling code that runs after the transaction was already ended or before it was ever started.

ROLLBACK TRANSACTION without a savepoint name undoes the whole transaction and sets @@TRANCOUNT to 0. When @@TRANCOUNT is already 0 there is nothing to undo, and SQL Server raises 3903 at severity 16. The rollback itself loses nothing extra; the message is a sign that your error handling does not know the state of the transaction. It is the mirror image of error 3902, which COMMIT raises in the same situation.

The interesting question is where the transaction went. Common answers: the error happened before BEGIN TRANSACTION, so the CATCH block rolls back something that never started; a called procedure already rolled back (you will see error 266 with current count = 0 just above); or SET XACT_ABORT ON rolled back automatically and ended the batch, so a ROLLBACK in the next batch finds nothing. Check XACT_STATE() before rolling back, as in the error 3930 pattern for doomed transactions.

Common causes

• A CATCH block that always runs ROLLBACK, although the error was raised before BEGIN TRANSACTION.
• A nested stored procedure that ran ROLLBACK and ended the caller's transaction, followed by the caller's own ROLLBACK.
• An error under SET XACT_ABORT ON that rolled the transaction back and aborted the batch, and a ROLLBACK in a later batch of the script.
• ROLLBACK run twice, for example once in an inner IF branch and again at the end of the script.
• A deadlock victim (error 1205) whose transaction was rolled back by the engine before the client issued its own ROLLBACK.

Diagnose it

Read-only These queries only read metadata and dynamic management views. They do not change data, permissions or configuration, so they are safe to run first.

SELECT @@TRANCOUNT AS trancount,
       XACT_STATE() AS xact_state;   -- 1 active, -1 doomed, 0 none

DBCC OPENTRAN WITH TABLERESULTS, NO_INFOMSGS;

SELECT OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(m.object_id) AS schema_name, OBJECT_NAME(m.object_id) AS module_name
FROM sys.sql_modules AS m
WHERE m.definition LIKE N'%ROLLBACK%'
  AND m.definition NOT LIKE N'%@@TRANCOUNT%'
  AND m.definition NOT LIKE N'%XACT_STATE%';

How to fix it

Each fix is labelled with what it changes. Try read-only checks and the least invasive fix first, and test changes outside production.

BEGIN TRY
    BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    UPDATE dbo.Stock SET qty = qty - 10 WHERE id = 1;
    INSERT INTO dbo.Stock (id, qty) VALUES (2, 1);
    COMMIT TRANSACTION;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
    IF XACT_STATE() <> 0
        ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;
    THROW;
END CATCH;

CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE dbo.ReserveStock
AS
BEGIN
    SET XACT_ABORT ON;
    DECLARE @own_tran bit = CASE WHEN @@TRANCOUNT = 0 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END;
    BEGIN TRY
        IF @own_tran = 1 BEGIN TRANSACTION;
        UPDATE dbo.Stock SET qty = qty - 1 WHERE id = 1;
        IF @own_tran = 1 COMMIT TRANSACTION;
    END TRY
    BEGIN CATCH
        IF @own_tran = 1 AND XACT_STATE() <> 0 ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;
        THROW;
    END CATCH;
END;

:on error exit
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
-- ... steps ...
COMMIT TRANSACTION;

Examples

The CATCH block rolls back a transaction that never started

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Stock (id INT PRIMARY KEY, qty INT CHECK (qty >= 0));
INSERT INTO dbo.Stock VALUES (1, 5);
GO
BEGIN TRY
    UPDATE dbo.Stock SET qty = qty - 10 WHERE id = 1;   -- fails before BEGIN TRANSACTION
    BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    INSERT INTO dbo.Stock VALUES (2, 1);
    COMMIT;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
    ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;   -- @@TRANCOUNT is 0 here
END CATCH;

Msg 3903, Level 16, State 1, Line 8
The ROLLBACK TRANSACTION request has no corresponding BEGIN TRANSACTION.

A procedure already rolled back the caller's transaction

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Stock (id INT PRIMARY KEY, qty INT);
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ReserveStock AS
BEGIN
    BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;   -- rolls back the caller's transaction too
END;
GO
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
EXEC dbo.ReserveStock;   -- error 266 is raised here
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;

Msg 3903, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
The ROLLBACK TRANSACTION request has no corresponding BEGIN TRANSACTION.

XACT_ABORT already rolled back; the next batch rolls back again

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Stock (id INT PRIMARY KEY, qty INT CHECK (qty >= 0));
INSERT INTO dbo.Stock VALUES (1, 5);
GO
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
UPDATE dbo.Stock SET qty = qty - 10 WHERE id = 1;   -- error 547 ends the batch and the transaction
COMMIT;
GO
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;

Msg 3903, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The ROLLBACK TRANSACTION request has no corresponding BEGIN TRANSACTION.

How to prevent it

Use one transaction template everywhere: SET XACT_ABORT ON, BEGIN TRANSACTION as the first statement in TRY, COMMIT as the last, and a CATCH block that rolls back only when XACT_STATE() <> 0 and then rethrows. Procedures that may be called inside a transaction should not roll back a transaction they did not start.

When you see 3903, scroll up: the first error in the output explains why the transaction had already ended. For how nesting, savepoints and @@TRANCOUNT interact, see managing transactions and concurrency.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• Managing transactions and concurrency
• SQL transactions and ACID explained
• Advanced stored procedures

Official documentation

• ROLLBACK TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
• XACT_STATE (Transact-SQL)
• TRY...CATCH (Transact-SQL)
• Database Engine events and errors 3000 to 3999

Last technically reviewed 24 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.