diff --git a/sqlx-postgres/src/transaction.rs b/sqlx-postgres/src/transaction.rs
index 3f4122ea82..6ae0da53fc 100644
--- a/sqlx-postgres/src/transaction.rs
+++ b/sqlx-postgres/src/transaction.rs
@@ -27,11 +27,18 @@ impl TransactionManager for PgTransactionManager {
 
         let rollback = Rollback::new(conn);
         rollback.conn.queue_simple_query(statement.as_str())?;
+        // Claim the depth before the round trip, not after. `start_rollback` -- which both
+        // this guard and `Transaction`'s own drop guard call -- is a no-op while the depth is
+        // zero, so a future cancelled during the await below would otherwise leave the server
+        // in a transaction with nothing queued to end it. `Pool` then hands that connection
+        // to the next borrower, whose statements silently run inside it. Unwound just below
+        // if the BEGIN did not take.
+        rollback.conn.inner.transaction_depth += 1;
         rollback.conn.wait_until_ready().await?;
         if !rollback.conn.in_transaction() {
+            rollback.conn.inner.transaction_depth -= 1;
             return Err(Error::BeginFailed);
         }
-        rollback.conn.inner.transaction_depth += 1;
         rollback.defuse();
 
         Ok(())
diff --git a/tests/postgres/postgres.rs b/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
index 26f827b837..0e5f2829c9 100644
--- a/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
+++ b/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
@@ -2244,3 +2244,54 @@ async fn it_can_recover_from_copy_in_invalid_params() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     )
     .await
 }
+
+// Regression: a future cancelled while `BEGIN`'s round trip is in flight used to leave the
+// session inside a transaction. `start_rollback` is a no-op while `transaction_depth` is
+// zero, and the depth was raised only after the await, so neither drop guard queued a
+// `ROLLBACK` -- and `return_to_pool` validates with a bare `wait_until_ready` that never
+// looks at the `ReadyForQuery` transaction-status byte, so the connection was handed to the
+// next borrower with the transaction still open.
+#[sqlx_macros::test]
+async fn it_rolls_back_a_transaction_cancelled_during_begin() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let pool = PgPoolOptions::new()
+        .max_connections(1)
+        .min_connections(0)
+        .connect(&dotenvy::var("DATABASE_URL")?)
+        .await?;
+
+    let pid: i32 = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT pg_backend_pid()")
+        .fetch_one(&pool)
+        .await?;
+
+    // A plain `BEGIN` answers too quickly to cancel reliably; the sleep widens the same
+    // round trip so the cancellation lands inside it.
+    let cancelled = sqlx_core::rt::timeout(
+        Duration::from_millis(300),
+        pool.begin_with(AssertSqlSafe("BEGIN; SELECT pg_sleep(2);".to_string())),
+    )
+    .await;
+    assert!(cancelled.is_err(), "the begin should not have completed");
+
+    // Outlast the sleep: the queued `ROLLBACK` is only flushed once the abandoned statement
+    // has answered and the connection is on its way back to the pool.
+    sqlx_core::rt::sleep(Duration::from_millis(3500)).await;
+
+    let mut conn = new::<Postgres>().await?;
+    let state: Option<String> =
+        sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT state FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE pid = $1")
+            .bind(pid)
+            .fetch_optional(&mut conn)
+            .await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        state.as_deref(),
+        Some("idle"),
+        "connection was returned to the pool still inside a transaction"
+    );
+
+    // and the pooled connection is still usable
+    let one: i32 = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT 1").fetch_one(&pool).await?;
+    assert_eq!(one, 1);
+
+    Ok(())
+}