Index: metastore/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/HiveAlterHandler.java =================================================================== --- metastore/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/HiveAlterHandler.java (revision 1152020) +++ metastore/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/HiveAlterHandler.java (working copy) @@ -187,7 +187,6 @@ } finally { if (!success) { msdb.rollbackTransaction(); - throw new MetaException("Committing the alter table transaction was not successful."); } if (success && moveData) { // change the file name in hdfs @@ -214,5 +213,10 @@ } } } + // This code should only execute if the try-catch-finally block completes without throwing + // a different exception. + if (!success) { + throw new MetaException("Committing the alter table transaction was not successful."); + } } }