"wolfc" wrote : If I throw an AssertionError in afterCompletion from a Synchronization. I would expect the tx.commit() to throw an exception. | Why? It's valid for the JTA implementation to do: Psuedo code: | commit() | { | resources.end(); | synchronizations.beforeCompletion(); | resources.prepare(); | log.writeResult(); // HERE we know/record the result of the commit (modulo heuristics) | threadPool.submit(commitPhase); | removeThreadAssociation(); | return; | } | so the rollback()/commit()/afterCompletion()s could be executed after the call to tm/tx.commit() has returned to you. it would also be wrong to signal a transaction failure, if it actually committed but one of the afterCompletions buggily threw an exception. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4173874#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...