diff --git a/datafusion-postgres/src/handlers.rs b/datafusion-postgres/src/handlers.rs
index 06d7c98..2e64435 100644
--- a/datafusion-postgres/src/handlers.rs
+++ b/datafusion-postgres/src/handlers.rs
@@ -320,9 +320,15 @@ impl DfSessionService {
         match query_lower.trim() {
             "begin" | "begin transaction" | "begin work" | "start transaction" => {
                 match client.transaction_status() {
-                    TransactionStatus::Idle | TransactionStatus::Transaction => {
+                    TransactionStatus::Idle => {
                         Ok(Some(Response::TransactionStart(Tag::new("BEGIN"))))
                     }
+                    TransactionStatus::Transaction => {
+                        // PostgreSQL behavior: ignore nested BEGIN, just return SUCCESS
+                        // This matches PostgreSQL's handling of nested transaction blocks
+                        log::warn!("BEGIN command ignored: already in transaction block");
+                        Ok(Some(Response::Execution(Tag::new("BEGIN"))))
+                    }
                     TransactionStatus::Error => {
                         // Can't start new transaction from failed state
                         Err(PgWireError::UserError(Box::new(
@@ -417,6 +423,16 @@ impl SimpleQueryHandler for DfSessionService {
         C: ClientInfo + Unpin + Send + Sync,
     {
         log::debug!("Received query: {query}"); // Log the query for debugging
+
+        // Check for transaction commands early to avoid SQL parsing issues with ABORT
+        let query_lower = query.to_lowercase().trim().to_string();
+        if let Some(resp) = self
+            .try_respond_transaction_statements(client, &query_lower)
+            .await?
+        {
+            return Ok(vec![resp]);
+        }
+
         let mut statements = parse(query).map_err(|e| PgWireError::ApiError(Box::new(e)))?;
 
         // TODO: deal with multiple statements
@@ -449,13 +465,6 @@ impl SimpleQueryHandler for DfSessionService {
             return Ok(vec![resp]);
         }
 
-        if let Some(resp) = self
-            .try_respond_transaction_statements(client, &query_lower)
-            .await?
-        {
-            return Ok(vec![resp]);
-        }
-
         if let Some(resp) = self
             .try_respond_show_statements(client, &query_lower)
             .await?
@@ -697,8 +706,38 @@ impl QueryParser for Parser {
         sql: &str,
         _types: &[Type],
     ) -> PgWireResult<Self::Statement> {
-        log::debug!("Received parse extended query: {sql}"); // Log for
-                                                             // debugging
+        log::debug!("Received parse extended query: {sql}"); // Log for debugging
+
+        // Check for transaction commands that shouldn't be parsed by DataFusion
+        let sql_lower = sql.to_lowercase();
+        let sql_trimmed = sql_lower.trim();
+        if matches!(
+            sql_trimmed,
+            "begin"
+                | "begin transaction"
+                | "begin work"
+                | "start transaction"
+                | "commit"
+                | "commit transaction"
+                | "commit work"
+                | "end"
+                | "end transaction"
+                | "rollback"
+                | "rollback transaction"
+                | "rollback work"
+                | "abort"
+        ) {
+            // Return a dummy plan for transaction commands - they'll be handled by transaction handler
+            let dummy_schema = datafusion::common::DFSchema::empty();
+            let dummy_plan = datafusion::logical_expr::LogicalPlan::EmptyRelation(
+                datafusion::logical_expr::EmptyRelation {
+                    produce_one_row: false,
+                    schema: std::sync::Arc::new(dummy_schema),
+                },
+            );
+            return Ok((sql.to_string(), dummy_plan));
+        }
+
         let mut statements = parse(sql).map_err(|e| PgWireError::ApiError(Box::new(e)))?;
         let mut statement = statements.remove(0);