diff --git a/crates/storage-postgres/src/data/transactions.rs b/crates/storage-postgres/src/data/transactions.rs
index d69f9004..2c0f7a4b 100644
--- a/crates/storage-postgres/src/data/transactions.rs
+++ b/crates/storage-postgres/src/data/transactions.rs
@@ -53,9 +53,20 @@ impl PostgresEngine {
             return Err(StorageError::TransactionCanceled(reasons));
         }
 
+        // TransactGetItems promises that every item comes from one point in
+        // time. Under the pool's default READ COMMITTED, each SELECT takes its
+        // own snapshot, so a TransactWriteItems that commits between two
+        // reads is observed half-applied. REPEATABLE READ takes one snapshot
+        // at the first read and serves every read from it. On a primary, a
+        // REPEATABLE READ transaction that only reads cannot fail with a
+        // serialization error, because those are raised only when it tries to
+        // modify a row changed since its snapshot, so no retry is added. Every
+        // write in this backend goes through this same pool, so it cannot be
+        // a hot standby in a deployment that accepts writes; on a standby a
+        // recovery conflict could cancel this read, as it could any query.
         let mut tx = self
             .data_pool
-            .begin()
+            .begin_with("BEGIN ISOLATION LEVEL REPEATABLE READ READ ONLY")
             .await
             .map_err(|e| StorageError::Internal(e.to_string()))?;
 
diff --git a/tests/test_transact_get_snapshot.py b/tests/test_transact_get_snapshot.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..94e0e2ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_transact_get_snapshot.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# Copyright 2026 ExtendDB contributors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""TransactGetItems reads every item from one point in time.
+
+One writer moves two items to the same generation inside a single
+TransactWriteItems while readers fetch both with TransactGetItems. Every
+successful read must see both items at the same generation; a mismatch is a
+torn read (half of a committed transaction observed).
+
+DynamoDB may cancel a TransactGetItems that conflicts with an in-flight write
+(TransactionCanceledException); that is a valid outcome and is not counted.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import threading
+import time
+
+from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
+
+from conftest import scoped_table
+from test_concurrency import _make_client
+
+DURATION_S = 5.0
+READERS = 4
+KEYS = ("snap-a", "snap-b")
+
+
+def test_transact_get_items_never_returns_a_torn_read(dynamodb_client):
+    with scoped_table(dynamodb_client) as table:
+        for k in KEYS:
+            dynamodb_client.put_item(TableName=table, Item={"pk": {"S": k}, "gen": {"N": "0"}})
+
+        deadline = time.monotonic() + DURATION_S
+        torn: list[list[str]] = []
+        reads = [0]
+        writes = [0]
+        errors: list[BaseException] = []
+        lock = threading.Lock()
+
+        def writer() -> None:
+            client = _make_client()
+            gen = 0
+            try:
+                while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+                    gen += 1
+                    client.transact_write_items(
+                        TransactItems=[
+                            {"Put": {"TableName": table, "Item": {"pk": {"S": k}, "gen": {"N": str(gen)}}}}
+                            for k in KEYS
+                        ]
+                    )
+                    with lock:
+                        writes[0] += 1
+            except BaseException as e:  # noqa: BLE001 - surfaced below
+                errors.append(e)
+
+        def reader() -> None:
+            client = _make_client()
+            try:
+                while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+                    try:
+                        resp = client.transact_get_items(
+                            TransactItems=[
+                                {"Get": {"TableName": table, "Key": {"pk": {"S": k}}}} for k in KEYS
+                            ]
+                        )
+                    except ClientError as e:
+                        if e.response["Error"]["Code"] == "TransactionCanceledException":
+                            continue
+                        raise
+                    gens = [r["Item"]["gen"]["N"] for r in resp["Responses"]]
+                    with lock:
+                        reads[0] += 1
+                        if len(set(gens)) != 1:
+                            torn.append(gens)
+            except BaseException as e:  # noqa: BLE001 - surfaced below
+                errors.append(e)
+
+        threads = [threading.Thread(target=writer)] + [
+            threading.Thread(target=reader) for _ in range(READERS)
+        ]
+        for t in threads:
+            t.start()
+        for t in threads:
+            t.join()
+
+        assert not errors, errors[0]
+        assert writes[0] > 10, f"writer made too little progress ({writes[0]} transactions)"
+        assert reads[0] > 10, f"readers made too little progress ({reads[0]} reads)"
+        assert not torn, f"{len(torn)} of {reads[0]} TransactGetItems were torn, e.g. {torn[:5]}"