diff --git a/phpBB/includes/db/dbal.php b/phpBB/includes/db/dbal.php
index 61344a0674..21d095155e 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/db/dbal.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/db/dbal.php
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ class dbal
 			$this->sql_transaction('rollback');
 		}
 
-		return $error;
+		return $this->sql_error_returned;
 	}
 
 	/**