diff --git a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/AbstractDistributedLockDialect.java b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/AbstractDistributedLockDialect.java
index b8bf3e62d853..94f3b790792f 100644
--- a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/AbstractDistributedLockDialect.java
+++ b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/AbstractDistributedLockDialect.java
@@ -60,7 +60,13 @@ public boolean lockAcquire(JdbcClientPool connections, String lockId, long timeo
                         preparedStatement.setLong(2, timeoutMillSeconds / 1000);
                         return preparedStatement.executeUpdate() > 0;
                     } catch (SQLException ex) {
-                        return false;
+                        // only a constraint violation means the lock is held; swallowing
+                        // anything else turns a broken lock table into a silent full-timeout
+                        // spin that hides the root cause
+                        if (isConstraintViolation(ex)) {
+                            return false;
+                        }
+                        throw ex;
                     }
                 });
     }
@@ -96,4 +102,19 @@ public int tryReleaseTimedOutLock(JdbcClientPool connections, String lockId)
     }
 
     public abstract String getTryReleaseTimedOutLock();
+
+    private static boolean isConstraintViolation(SQLException ex) {
+        // SQLState 23xxx covers MySQL/PostgreSQL; SQLite reports constraint failures
+        // without a standard SQLState
+        if (ex.getSQLState() != null && ex.getSQLState().startsWith("23")) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (ex instanceof java.sql.SQLIntegrityConstraintViolationException) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        String message = ex.getMessage();
+        return message != null
+                && (message.toLowerCase(java.util.Locale.ROOT).contains("constraint")
+                        || message.toLowerCase(java.util.Locale.ROOT).contains("duplicate"));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/paimon-core/src/test/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/JdbcCatalogTest.java b/paimon-core/src/test/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/JdbcCatalogTest.java
index 55808e1e426e..f3365ff05dbe 100644
--- a/paimon-core/src/test/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/JdbcCatalogTest.java
+++ b/paimon-core/src/test/java/org/apache/paimon/jdbc/JdbcCatalogTest.java
@@ -202,6 +202,32 @@ public void testAcquireLockFail() throws SQLException, InterruptedException {
                 .isFalse();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testBrokenLockInsertSurfacesRootCause() throws Exception {
+        // an INSERT failure other than a constraint violation is a configuration or
+        // connection error, not a held lock: the old catch-all swallowed it and spun
+        // for the whole acquire timeout
+        java.sql.SQLException failure = new java.sql.SQLException("connection reset");
+        java.sql.Connection connection = org.mockito.Mockito.mock(java.sql.Connection.class);
+        org.mockito.Mockito.when(
+                        connection.prepareStatement(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString()))
+                .thenThrow(failure);
+        JdbcClientPool pool = org.mockito.Mockito.mock(JdbcClientPool.class);
+        org.mockito.Mockito.doAnswer(
+                        invocation ->
+                                ((org.apache.paimon.client.ClientPool.Action<
+                                                        ?, java.sql.Connection, ?>)
+                                                invocation.getArgument(0))
+                                        .run(connection))
+                .when(pool)
+                .run(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any());
+        MysqlDistributedLockDialect dialect = new MysqlDistributedLockDialect();
+
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> dialect.lockAcquire(pool, "jdbc.broken.lock", 1000))
+                .isInstanceOf(java.sql.SQLException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("connection reset");
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testCleanTimeoutLockAndAcquireLock() throws SQLException, InterruptedException {
         String lockId = "jdbc.testDb.testTable";