diff --git a/src/next/jdbc/transaction.clj b/src/next/jdbc/transaction.clj
index 84789ac..bb9539f 100644
--- a/src/next/jdbc/transaction.clj
+++ b/src/next/jdbc/transaction.clj
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@
     (io!
      (when isolation
        (.setTransactionIsolation con (isolation isolation-levels)))
-     (when read-only
-       (.setReadOnly con true))
+     (when (contains? opts :read-only)
+       (.setReadOnly con (boolean read-only)))
      (.setAutoCommit con false)
      (try
        (let [result (f con)]
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
            (try
              (.setTransactionIsolation con old-isolation)
              (catch Exception _)))
-         (when read-only
+         (when (contains? opts :read-only)
            (try
              (.setReadOnly con old-readonly)
              (catch Exception _))))))))
diff --git a/test/next/jdbc/test_fixtures.clj b/test/next/jdbc/test_fixtures.clj
index ec66be9..e67a4f2 100644
--- a/test/next/jdbc/test_fixtures.clj
+++ b/test/next/jdbc/test_fixtures.clj
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@
 
 (defn stored-proc? [] (not (#{"derby" "h2" "h2:mem" "sqlite"} (:dbtype @test-db-spec))))
 
+(defn can-set-read-only? [] (not (#{"h2" "h2:mem" "sqlite"} (:dbtype @test-db-spec))))
+
 (defn column [k]
   (let [n (namespace k)]
     (keyword (when n (cond (postgres?) (str/lower-case n)
diff --git a/test/next/jdbc_test.clj b/test/next/jdbc_test.clj
index 2cc3c26..4d01840 100644
--- a/test/next/jdbc_test.clj
+++ b/test/next/jdbc_test.clj
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
             [next.jdbc.connection :as c]
             [next.jdbc.test-fixtures
              :refer [with-test-db db ds column
-                      default-options stored-proc?
+                      default-options stored-proc? can-set-read-only?
                       derby? hsqldb? jtds? mssql? mysql? postgres? sqlite?]]
             [next.jdbc.prepare :as prep]
             [next.jdbc.result-set :as rs]
@@ -821,6 +821,15 @@ INSERT INTO fruit (name, appearance) VALUES (?,?)
         (with-open [con (jdbc/get-connection ds {})]
           (is (instance? java.sql.Connection con)))))))
 
+(deftest always-call-set-read-only-when-opening-a-tx
+  (when (can-set-read-only?)
+    (with-open [con (jdbc/get-connection (ds))]
+      (.setReadOnly con true)
+      (jdbc/with-transaction [tx con {:read-only false}]
+        (is (not (.isReadOnly con)))
+        (is (not (.isReadOnly tx))))
+      (is (.isReadOnly con)))))
+
 (deftest multi-rs
   (when (mssql?)
     (testing "script with multiple result sets"