diff --git a/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TxnStoreMutex.java b/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TxnStoreMutex.java
index 3dad12fc1f56..dfe6f8e8efae 100644
--- a/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TxnStoreMutex.java
+++ b/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TxnStoreMutex.java
@@ -189,6 +189,8 @@ public void releaseLocks(Long timestamp) {
           jdbcResource.getTransactionManager().commit(context);
         } catch (DataAccessException ex) {
           LOG.warn("Unable to update MT_KEY2 value for MT_KEY1=" + key, ex);
+        } finally {
+          context.close();
         }
         
         if (derbySemaphore != null) {
diff --git a/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TestTxnStoreMutex.java b/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TestTxnStoreMutex.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c735b8d71286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/txn/TestTxnStoreMutex.java
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.txn;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.DatabaseProduct;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.annotation.MetastoreUnitTest;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.conf.MetastoreConf;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.conf.MetastoreConf.ConfVars;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.tools.SQLGenerator;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.txn.jdbc.MultiDataSourceJdbcResource;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.utils.TestTxnDbUtil;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.experimental.categories.Category;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.ConnectionHolder;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DelegatingDataSource;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource;
+import org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionSynchronizationManager;
+
+import javax.sql.DataSource;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Proxy;
+import java.sql.Connection;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+
+import static org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.txn.TxnStore.POOL_MUTEX;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link TxnStoreMutex}, verifying that the mutex transaction is always completed
+ * (committed or rolled back), even when the backend database fails while releasing the lock.
+ * A transaction left open would stay bound to the thread and poison every subsequent
+ * {@link TxnStoreMutex#acquireLock(String)} call made from the same thread.
+ */
+@Category(MetastoreUnitTest.class)
+public class TestTxnStoreMutex {
+
+  private Configuration conf;
+  private FaultInjectingDataSource dataSource;
+  private TxnStoreMutex mutex;
+
+  @Before
+  public void setUp() throws Exception {
+    conf = MetastoreConf.newMetastoreConf();
+    TestTxnDbUtil.setConfValues(conf);
+    TestTxnDbUtil.prepDb(conf);
+
+    dataSource = new FaultInjectingDataSource(new DriverManagerDataSource(
+        MetastoreConf.getVar(conf, ConfVars.CONNECT_URL_KEY),
+        MetastoreConf.getVar(conf, ConfVars.CONNECTION_USER_NAME),
+        MetastoreConf.getPassword(conf, ConfVars.PWD)));
+
+    DatabaseProduct dbProduct = DatabaseProduct.determineDatabaseProduct(dataSource, conf);
+    SQLGenerator sqlGenerator = new SQLGenerator(dbProduct, conf);
+    MultiDataSourceJdbcResource jdbcResource = new MultiDataSourceJdbcResource(dbProduct, conf, sqlGenerator);
+    jdbcResource.registerDataSource(POOL_MUTEX, dataSource);
+    mutex = new TxnStoreMutex(sqlGenerator, jdbcResource);
+  }
+
+  @After
+  public void tearDown() throws Exception {
+    // Defensive cleanup so a leaked transaction cannot poison other tests running on this thread:
+    // roll back and close the leaked connection, otherwise it keeps holding its Derby row locks.
+    if (dataSource != null && TransactionSynchronizationManager.hasResource(dataSource)) {
+      ConnectionHolder holder = (ConnectionHolder) TransactionSynchronizationManager.unbindResource(dataSource);
+      try (Connection connection = holder.getConnection()) {
+        connection.rollback();
+      }
+    }
+    // A leaked transaction also leaves the synchronization thread-locals initialized, which would
+    // make every later transaction on this thread skip its own synchronization cleanup on commit.
+    TransactionSynchronizationManager.clear();
+    TestTxnDbUtil.cleanDb(conf);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testReleaseLocksCompletesTransactionOnUpdateFailure() throws Exception {
+    TxnStore.MutexAPI.LockHandle handle = mutex.acquireLock(TxnStore.MUTEX_KEY.Initiator.name());
+
+    dataSource.failAuxTableUpdate = true;
+    try {
+      handle.releaseLocks(System.currentTimeMillis());
+    } finally {
+      dataSource.failAuxTableUpdate = false;
+    }
+
+    Assert.assertFalse("Mutex transaction was left bound to the thread after a failed release",
+        TransactionSynchronizationManager.hasResource(dataSource));
+    Assert.assertFalse("A transaction is still active after a failed release",
+        TransactionSynchronizationManager.isActualTransactionActive());
+
+    // The same thread must be able to run a full acquire/release cycle afterwards.
+    TxnStore.MutexAPI.LockHandle recovered = mutex.acquireLock(TxnStore.MUTEX_KEY.Initiator.name());
+    recovered.releaseLocks(System.currentTimeMillis());
+    Assert.assertFalse(TransactionSynchronizationManager.hasResource(dataSource));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Delegates to a real {@link DataSource}, but while {@link #failAuxTableUpdate} is set, connections
+   * throw a {@link SQLException} (SQLState 08S01, like a lost connection) on any statement preparation.
+   * The flag is armed only around {@code releaseLocks(Long)}, where the AUX_TABLE update is the sole
+   * statement prepared on the transaction's connection.
+   */
+  private static final class FaultInjectingDataSource extends DelegatingDataSource {
+
+    boolean failAuxTableUpdate;
+
+    FaultInjectingDataSource(DataSource delegate) {
+      super(delegate);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Connection getConnection() throws SQLException {
+      Connection real = super.getConnection();
+      return (Connection) Proxy.newProxyInstance(getClass().getClassLoader(), new Class<?>[] { Connection.class },
+          (proxy, method, args) -> {
+            if (failAuxTableUpdate && "prepareStatement".equals(method.getName())) {
+              throw new SQLException("Simulated lost connection to the backend DB", "08S01");
+            }
+            try {
+              return method.invoke(real, args);
+            } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
+              throw e.getTargetException();
+            }
+          });
+    }
+  }
+}