Why @Transactional Won’t Roll Back on Checked Exceptions and How to Fix It

Step 1: Prepare data in MySQL

Step 2: Simple test

Goal: set delflag to 0. SQL:

UPDATE tbl_users SET delflag='0' WHERE account='admin'

Step 3: Test with @Transactional and a runtime exception

@Override
@Transactional
public Ret test() {
    int i = articleMapper.test();
    int a = 2/0; // throws ArithmeticException
    if (i > 0) {
        ResultUtil.success();
    }
    return ResultUtil.error();
}

The division by zero throws java.lang.ArithmeticException, which extends RuntimeException. Spring rolls back the transaction, so the database value remains unchanged.

Step 4: Verify rollback

Step 5: Checked exception does not trigger rollback

@Override
@Transactional
public Ret test() throws Exception {
    int i = articleMapper.test();
    try {
        int a = 2/0;
    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new Exception(); // checked exception
    }
    if (i > 0) {
        ResultUtil.success();
    }
    return ResultUtil.error();
}

The caught exception is re‑thrown as java.lang.Exception (a checked exception). Spring does not roll back, and the database row is updated to 0.

Conclusion

@Transactional only rolls back RuntimeException and its subclasses. To roll back checked exceptions, specify @Transactional(rollbackFor = Exception.class). It is recommended to use this form for all insert, update, or delete operations.