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..1a7dfed9cf 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ 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);
+	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);
diff --git a/object-file.c b/object-file.c
index e846c4469b..85654b3fb9 100644
--- a/object-file.c
+++ b/object-file.c
@@ -1387,8 +1387,9 @@ 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_begin_or_die(odb, &transaction);
 			ret = odb_transaction_write_object_stream(odb->transaction,
 								  &stream,
 								  xsize_t(st->st_size),
diff --git a/odb/transaction.c b/odb/transaction.c
index b16e07aebf..d3de01db50 100644
--- a/odb/transaction.c
+++ b/odb/transaction.c
@@ -2,14 +2,20 @@
 #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)
 {
-	if (odb->transaction)
-		return NULL;
+	int ret;
 
-	odb_source_begin_transaction(odb->sources, &odb->transaction);
+	if (odb->transaction) {
+		*out = NULL;
+		return 0;
+	}
 
-	return odb->transaction;
+	ret = odb_source_begin_transaction(odb->sources, out);
+	odb->transaction = *out;
+
+	return ret;
 }
 
 void odb_transaction_commit(struct odb_transaction *transaction)
diff --git a/odb/transaction.h b/odb/transaction.h
index f4c1ebfaaa..cd6d50f2e5 100644
--- a/odb/transaction.h
+++ b/odb/transaction.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef ODB_TRANSACTION_H
 #define ODB_TRANSACTION_H
 
+#include "git-compat-util.h"
+#include "gettext.h"
 #include "odb.h"
 #include "odb/source.h"
 
@@ -33,11 +35,20 @@ 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. If the ODB already has a pending transaction, `out` is set to NULL.
  */
-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..3e629de340 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -4042,7 +4042,7 @@ 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);
+	odb_transaction_begin_or_die(repo->objects, &transaction);
 	run_diff_files(&rev, DIFF_RACY_IS_MODIFIED);
 	odb_transaction_commit(transaction);