diff --git a/ext/rtree/rtree.c b/ext/rtree/rtree.c
index 13de73aa85..7751b332e8 100644
--- a/ext/rtree/rtree.c
+++ b/ext/rtree/rtree.c
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 ** This file contains code for implementations of the r-tree and r*-tree
 ** algorithms packaged as an SQLite virtual table module.
 **
-** $Id: rtree.c,v 1.12 2008/12/22 15:04:32 danielk1977 Exp $
+** $Id: rtree.c,v 1.13 2009/07/17 16:54:48 danielk1977 Exp $
 */
 
 #if !defined(SQLITE_CORE) || defined(SQLITE_ENABLE_RTREE)
@@ -2737,8 +2737,10 @@ static int rtreeInit(
       zSql = sqlite3_mprintf("%s);", zTmp);
       sqlite3_free(zTmp);
     }
-    if( !zSql || sqlite3_declare_vtab(db, zSql) ){
+    if( !zSql ){
       rc = SQLITE_NOMEM;
+    }else if( SQLITE_OK!=(rc = sqlite3_declare_vtab(db, zSql)) ){
+      *pzErr = sqlite3_mprintf("%s", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
     }
     sqlite3_free(zSql);
   }
diff --git a/ext/rtree/rtree1.test b/ext/rtree/rtree1.test
index 0c88d5cd78..8c1675b61d 100644
--- a/ext/rtree/rtree1.test
+++ b/ext/rtree/rtree1.test
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #
 # The focus of this file is testing the r-tree extension.
 #
-# $Id: rtree1.test,v 1.6 2008/12/22 15:04:32 danielk1977 Exp $
+# $Id: rtree1.test,v 1.7 2009/07/17 16:54:48 danielk1977 Exp $
 #
 
 if {![info exists testdir]} {
@@ -393,4 +393,12 @@ do_test rtree-9.3 {
   }
 } {1600}
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Ticket #3970: Check that the error message is meaningful when a 
+# keyword is used as a column name.
+#
+do_test rtree-10.1 {
+  catchsql { CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE t7 USING rtree(index, x1, y1, x2, y2) }
+} {1 {near "index": syntax error}}
+
 finish_test
diff --git a/manifest b/manifest
index 805f7908c8..0a2e6ae8dd 100644
--- a/manifest
+++ b/manifest
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-C Skip\sall\stests\sin\stableapi.test\sif\sSQLITE_OMIT_GET_TABLE\sdefined.\sTicket\s#3975.\s(CVS\s6901)
-D 2009-07-17T14:37:25
+C Return\sa\smeaningful\serror\smessage\sif\sa\skeyword\sis\sused\sas\san\srtree\stable\scolumn\sname.\sTicket\s#3970.\s(CVS\s6902)
+D 2009-07-17T16:54:48
 F Makefile.arm-wince-mingw32ce-gcc fcd5e9cd67fe88836360bb4f9ef4cb7f8e2fb5a0
 F Makefile.in df9359da7a726ccb67a45db905c5447d5c00c6ef
 F Makefile.linux-gcc d53183f4aa6a9192d249731c90dbdffbd2c68654
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ F ext/icu/README.txt 3b130aa66e7a681136f6add198b076a2f90d1e33
 F ext/icu/icu.c 12e763d288d23b5a49de37caa30737b971a2f1e2
 F ext/icu/sqliteicu.h 728867a802baa5a96de7495e9689a8e01715ef37
 F ext/rtree/README 6315c0d73ebf0ec40dedb5aa0e942bc8b54e3761
-F ext/rtree/rtree.c a1c43d0f58aaa6ba22eaf02875f8c55311f74a5d
+F ext/rtree/rtree.c 95eca5dd01f836539723b16e66b4c7a7d3537f6c
 F ext/rtree/rtree.h 834dbcb82dc85b2481cde6a07cdadfddc99e9b9e
-F ext/rtree/rtree1.test ebcef111192a034c64e9f3b6bd42533a539c2062
+F ext/rtree/rtree1.test 207041aba07fdcdd93aa797a745839d305181857
 F ext/rtree/rtree2.test 9ac9d28fa948779df66916c67a5dcf9704c3cb74
 F ext/rtree/rtree3.test 877a09c1a0c2b87af0f94f3a286e7dd3b65adf22
 F ext/rtree/rtree4.test 11724f766a74f48710998cdd7552cec140c55bf9
@@ -740,7 +740,7 @@ F tool/speedtest2.tcl ee2149167303ba8e95af97873c575c3e0fab58ff
 F tool/speedtest8.c 2902c46588c40b55661e471d7a86e4dd71a18224
 F tool/speedtest8inst1.c 293327bc76823f473684d589a8160bde1f52c14e
 F tool/vdbe-compress.tcl 672f81d693a03f80f5ae60bfefacd8a349e76746
-P fb1b955dda5105025ef199880afa871e44331d65
-R 22f557ecd5134692108b619209fa8416
-U shane
-Z 34c428efa05b8c1460f660c3dcea66fd
+P 0219a543367638013ccd06295eeb9efc822e2dd1
+R 644e39d982aefb64851bf1bd3db73970
+U danielk1977
+Z f3240366dc68a67dbf0f884ca2a0a471
diff --git a/manifest.uuid b/manifest.uuid
index 683f276fd9..b82c0e9a58 100644
--- a/manifest.uuid
+++ b/manifest.uuid
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0219a543367638013ccd06295eeb9efc822e2dd1
\ No newline at end of file
+046efe46b50fbe928f39a0cda1b1006d486ce9f5
\ No newline at end of file