diff -u b/includes/commerce.controller.inc b/includes/commerce.controller.inc
--- b/includes/commerce.controller.inc
+++ b/includes/commerce.controller.inc
@@ -113,11 +113,16 @@
    * commit it as soon as possible given the state of the transaction stack.
    */
   protected function releaseLock() {
-    if ($this->requiresLocking() && empty($this->lockedEntities)) {
+    if (empty($this->lockedEntities)) {
       unset($this->controllerTransaction);
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Removes all locking for the controller, mostly used for testing
+   * if you want to stop locking and run something else, or you want to cancel locking
+   * on all entities at once, although be cautious with this.
+   */
   public function releaseLocking() {
     unset($this->controllerTransaction);
     $this->lockedEntities = array();
reverted:
--- b/modules/order/includes/commerce_order.controller.inc
+++ a/modules/order/includes/commerce_order.controller.inc
@@ -54,14 +54,8 @@
    *   SAVED_NEW or SAVED_UPDATED depending on the operation performed.
    */
   public function save($order, DatabaseTransaction $transaction = NULL) {
+    if (!isset($transaction)) {
+      $transaction = db_transaction();
-    //we don't really ever want to have 2 transactions, should we really even accept passed in transactions? or at least flush our internal one immediately?
-    if (isset($transaction)) {
-      $this->controllerTransaction = $transaction;
-    }
-
-    //check if we already have a transaction, else create one
-    if(!isset($this->controllerTransaction)){
-      $this->controllerTransaction = db_transaction();
       $started_transaction = TRUE;
     }