diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/transactions.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/transactions.rb
index 9cec791faf..8acbc08e09 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/transactions.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/transactions.rb
@@ -293,9 +293,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
         begin
           status = yield
         rescue ActiveRecord::Rollback
-          if defined?(@_start_transaction_state)
-            @_start_transaction_state[:level] = (@_start_transaction_state[:level] || 0) - 1
-          end
+          @_start_transaction_state[:level] = (@_start_transaction_state[:level] || 0) - 1
           status = nil
         end