diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/versioning/r/insert.result b/mysql-test/suite/versioning/r/insert.result
index 16f95ee183f..b7a133e2ccd 100644
--- a/mysql-test/suite/versioning/r/insert.result
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/versioning/r/insert.result
@@ -355,6 +355,11 @@ rollback to a;
 commit;
 call verify_vtq;
 No	A	B	C	D
+set global transaction_registry= off;
+insert into t2(x) values (1);
+insert into t1(x) values (1);
+ERROR HY000: Some versioned DML requires `transaction_registry` to be set to ON.
+set global transaction_registry= on;
 drop table t1;
 drop table t2;
 drop procedure test_01;
diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/versioning/t/insert.test b/mysql-test/suite/versioning/t/insert.test
index 730c5478841..666ae370a21 100644
--- a/mysql-test/suite/versioning/t/insert.test
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/versioning/t/insert.test
@@ -185,6 +185,12 @@ rollback to a;
 commit;
 call verify_vtq;
 
+set global transaction_registry= off;
+insert into t2(x) values (1);
+--error ER_VERS_TRT_IS_DISABLED
+insert into t1(x) values (1);
+set global transaction_registry= on;
+
 drop table t1;
 drop table t2;
 
diff --git a/sql/handler.cc b/sql/handler.cc
index 9299102ba58..1c75bf80218 100644
--- a/sql/handler.cc
+++ b/sql/handler.cc
@@ -1414,16 +1414,14 @@ int ha_commit_trans(THD *thd, bool all)
     goto err;
   }
 
-  if (rw_trans && use_transaction_registry)
+  if (rw_trans)
   {
     ulonglong trx_start_id= 0, trx_end_id= 0;
-    for (Ha_trx_info *ha_info= trans->ha_list; ha_info;
-         ha_info= ha_info->next())
+    for (Ha_trx_info *ha_info= trans->ha_list; ha_info; ha_info= ha_info->next())
     {
-      if (ulonglong (*prepare)(THD*,ulonglong*)= ha_info->ht()->
-          prepare_commit_versioned)
+      if (ha_info->ht()->prepare_commit_versioned)
       {
-        trx_end_id= prepare(thd, &trx_start_id);
+        trx_end_id= ha_info->ht()->prepare_commit_versioned(thd, &trx_start_id);
         if (trx_end_id)
           break; // FIXME: use a common ID for cross-engine transactions
       }
@@ -1431,6 +1429,11 @@ int ha_commit_trans(THD *thd, bool all)
 
     if (trx_end_id)
     {
+      if (!use_transaction_registry)
+      {
+        my_error(ER_VERS_TRT_IS_DISABLED, MYF(0));
+        goto err;
+      }
       DBUG_ASSERT(trx_start_id);
       TR_table trt(thd, true);
       if (trt.update(trx_start_id, trx_end_id))
diff --git a/sql/share/errmsg-utf8.txt b/sql/share/errmsg-utf8.txt
index 83c71234bd6..cad877a13bd 100644
--- a/sql/share/errmsg-utf8.txt
+++ b/sql/share/errmsg-utf8.txt
@@ -7913,3 +7913,6 @@ ER_NOT_LOG_TABLE
 
 ER_VERS_GENERATED_ALWAYS_NOT_EMPTY
         eng "Can not modify column `%s` to GENERATED ALWAYS AS ROW START/END for non-empty table"
+
+ER_VERS_TRT_IS_DISABLED
+        eng "Some versioned DML requires `transaction_registry` to be set to ON."
diff --git a/sql/sql_table.cc b/sql/sql_table.cc
index 7c65e515e3d..60a636d17e1 100644
--- a/sql/sql_table.cc
+++ b/sql/sql_table.cc
@@ -7442,15 +7442,21 @@ static bool mysql_inplace_alter_table(THD *thd,
 
   {
     TR_table trt(thd, true);
-    if (trt == *table_list || !use_transaction_registry);
-    else if (ulonglong (*prepare)(THD*,ulonglong*)= table->file->ht->
-             prepare_commit_versioned)
+    if (trt != *table_list && table->file->ht->prepare_commit_versioned)
     {
-      ulonglong trx_start_id, trx_end_id= prepare(thd, &trx_start_id);
-      if (trx_end_id && trt.update(trx_start_id, trx_end_id))
+      ulonglong trx_start_id= 0;
+      ulonglong trx_end_id= table->file->ht->prepare_commit_versioned(thd, &trx_start_id);
+      if (trx_end_id)
       {
-        my_error(ER_UNKNOWN_ERROR, MYF(0));
-        goto rollback;
+        if (!use_transaction_registry)
+        {
+          my_error(ER_VERS_TRT_IS_DISABLED, MYF(0));
+          goto rollback;
+        }
+        if (trt.update(trx_start_id, trx_end_id))
+        {
+          goto rollback;
+        }
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/sql/sys_vars.cc b/sql/sys_vars.cc
index 8afd07bd97a..a30d202db63 100644
--- a/sql/sys_vars.cc
+++ b/sql/sys_vars.cc
@@ -423,11 +423,18 @@ static Sys_var_enum Sys_vers_alter_history(
        SESSION_VAR(vers_alter_history), CMD_LINE(REQUIRED_ARG),
        vers_alter_history_keywords, DEFAULT(VERS_ALTER_HISTORY_ERROR));
 
+static bool update_transaction_registry(sys_var *self, THD *thd, enum_var_type type)
+{
+  use_transaction_registry= opt_transaction_registry;
+  return false;
+}
+
 static Sys_var_mybool Sys_transaction_registry(
        "transaction_registry",
        "Enable or disable update of transaction_registry",
        GLOBAL_VAR(opt_transaction_registry), CMD_LINE(OPT_ARG),
-       DEFAULT(TRUE));
+       DEFAULT(TRUE), NO_MUTEX_GUARD, NOT_IN_BINLOG,
+       0, ON_UPDATE(update_transaction_registry));
 
 static Sys_var_ulonglong Sys_binlog_cache_size(
        "binlog_cache_size", "The size of the transactional cache for "
diff --git a/sql/vtmd.cc b/sql/vtmd.cc
index 6a516178324..b66d8ba0d18 100644
--- a/sql/vtmd.cc
+++ b/sql/vtmd.cc
@@ -255,12 +255,12 @@ err:
   }
 
 quit:
-  if (result || !use_transaction_registry);
-  else if (ulonglong (*prepare)(THD*,ulonglong*)= vtmd.table->file->ht->
-           prepare_commit_versioned)
+  if (!result && vtmd.table->file->ht->prepare_commit_versioned)
   {
+    DBUG_ASSERT(use_transaction_registry); // FIXME: disable survival mode while TRT is disabled
     TR_table trt(thd, true);
-    ulonglong trx_start_id, trx_end_id= prepare(thd, &trx_start_id);
+    ulonglong trx_start_id= 0;
+    ulonglong trx_end_id= vtmd.table->file->ht->prepare_commit_versioned(thd, &trx_start_id);
     result= trx_end_id && trt.update(trx_start_id, trx_end_id);
   }