diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionContext.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionContext.java
index 5cbd73cc98..818c4485d1 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionContext.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionContext.java
@@ -54,17 +54,29 @@ public interface TransactionContext {
     Configuration configuration();
 
     /**
-     * A user-defined transaction object, obtained from
+     * A user-defined transaction object, possibly obtained from
      * {@link TransactionProvider#begin(TransactionContext)}.
      *
      * @return The transaction object. May be <code>null</code>.
      */
     Transaction transaction();
 
+    /**
+     * Set the user-defined transaction object to the current transaction
+     * context.
+     */
+    TransactionContext transaction(Transaction transaction);
+
     /**
      * The exception that has caused the rollback.
      *
      * @return The exception. May be <code>null</code>.
      */
     Exception cause();
+
+    /**
+     * Set the exception that has caused the rollback to the current transaction
+     * context.
+     */
+    TransactionContext cause(Exception cause);
 }
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionProvider.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionProvider.java
index f37be678ab..dfaf8f69a1 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionProvider.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/TransactionProvider.java
@@ -77,11 +77,10 @@ public interface TransactionProvider {
      *
      * @param Configuration the configuration scoped to this transaction and its
      *            nested transactions.
-     * @return A user-defined transaction object. May be <code>null</code>.
      * @throws DataAccessException Any exception issued by the underlying
      *             database.
      */
-    Transaction begin(TransactionContext ctx) throws DataAccessException;
+    void begin(TransactionContext ctx) throws DataAccessException;
 
     /**
      * @param Configuration the configuration scoped to this transaction and its
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultDSLContext.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultDSLContext.java
index 689b1dc605..9294159232 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultDSLContext.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultDSLContext.java
@@ -298,13 +298,12 @@ public class DefaultDSLContext implements DSLContext, Serializable {
         TransactionProvider provider = configuration.derive().transactionProvider();
 
         try {
-            ctx.transaction = provider.begin(ctx);
+            provider.begin(ctx);
             result = transactional.run(configuration.derive());
             provider.commit(ctx);
         }
         catch (Exception cause) {
-            ctx.cause = cause;
-            provider.rollback(ctx);
+            provider.rollback(ctx.cause(cause));
 
             if (cause instanceof RuntimeException) {
                 throw (RuntimeException) cause;
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionContext.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionContext.java
index efd500573b..326a099b2c 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionContext.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionContext.java
@@ -67,8 +67,20 @@ class DefaultTransactionContext implements TransactionContext {
         return transaction;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public final TransactionContext transaction(Transaction t) {
+        transaction = t;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public final Exception cause() {
         return cause;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public final TransactionContext cause(Exception c) {
+        cause = c;
+        return this;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionProvider.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionProvider.java
index ee4f169074..1c495a4deb 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionProvider.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultTransactionProvider.java
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ import java.util.Stack;
 
 import org.jooq.Configuration;
 import org.jooq.ConnectionProvider;
-import org.jooq.Transaction;
 import org.jooq.TransactionContext;
 import org.jooq.TransactionProvider;
 
@@ -109,7 +108,7 @@ public class DefaultTransactionProvider implements TransactionProvider {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public final Transaction begin(TransactionContext ctx) {
+    public final void begin(TransactionContext ctx) {
         Stack<Savepoint> savepoints = savepoints(ctx.configuration());
 
         // This is the top-level transaction
@@ -118,7 +117,6 @@ public class DefaultTransactionProvider implements TransactionProvider {
         }
 
         savepoints.push(connection(ctx.configuration()).setSavepoint());
-        return null;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/NoTransactionProvider.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/NoTransactionProvider.java
index 50ac67df7a..d89e092e05 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/NoTransactionProvider.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/NoTransactionProvider.java
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
  */
 package org.jooq.impl;
 
-import org.jooq.Transaction;
 import org.jooq.TransactionContext;
 import org.jooq.TransactionProvider;
 
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ import org.jooq.TransactionProvider;
 public class NoTransactionProvider implements TransactionProvider {
 
     @Override
-    public final Transaction begin(TransactionContext ctx) {
+    public final void begin(TransactionContext ctx) {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("No transaction provider configured");
     }