diff --git a/activerecord/CHANGELOG b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
index 53f0878406..9005ca62d7 100644
--- a/activerecord/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Oracle: active? performs a select instead of a commit.  #3133 [Michael Schoen]
+
 * MySQL: more robust test for nullified result hashes.  #3124 [Stefan Kaes]
 
 * SQLite: find database file when RAILS_ROOT is a symlink.  #3116 [anna@wota.jp]
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/oci_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/oci_adapter.rb
index b14ab571f2..01e3d4dff3 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/oci_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/oci_adapter.rb
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ begin
     # checks the connection, while #active? simply returns the last
     # known state.
     def ping
-      @connection.commit
+      @connection.exec("select 1 from dual") { |r| nil }
       @active = true
     rescue
       @active = false