diff --git a/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieTableOperations.java b/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieTableOperations.java
index 01b006c2607d..bc0dad225169 100644
--- a/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieTableOperations.java
+++ b/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieTableOperations.java
@@ -24,15 +24,18 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.Snapshot;
 import org.apache.iceberg.TableMetadata;
 import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.CommitFailedException;
+import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.CommitStateUnknownException;
 import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.NoSuchTableException;
 import org.apache.iceberg.io.FileIO;
 import org.projectnessie.client.NessieClient;
+import org.projectnessie.client.http.HttpClientException;
 import org.projectnessie.error.NessieConflictException;
 import org.projectnessie.error.NessieNotFoundException;
 import org.projectnessie.model.CommitMeta;
 import org.projectnessie.model.Contents;
 import org.projectnessie.model.ContentsKey;
 import org.projectnessie.model.IcebergTable;
+import org.projectnessie.model.ImmutableCommitMeta.Builder;
 import org.projectnessie.model.ImmutableIcebergTable;
 import org.projectnessie.model.ImmutableOperations;
 import org.projectnessie.model.Operation;
@@ -92,22 +95,33 @@ protected void doCommit(TableMetadata base, TableMetadata metadata) {
 
     String newMetadataLocation = writeNewMetadata(metadata, currentVersion() + 1);
 
-    boolean threw = true;
+    boolean delete = true;
     try {
       IcebergTable newTable = ImmutableIcebergTable.builder().metadataLocation(newMetadataLocation).build();
+      Builder cm = CommitMeta.builder().message("iceberg commit");
+      String appId = applicationId();
+      if (appId != null) {
+        cm.putProperties("spark.app.id", appId);
+      }
       Operations op = ImmutableOperations.builder().addOperations(Operation.Put.of(key, newTable))
-          .commitMeta(CommitMeta.fromMessage(String.format("iceberg commit%s", applicationId())))
-          .build();
+          .commitMeta(cm.build()).build();
       client.getTreeApi().commitMultipleOperations(reference.getAsBranch().getName(), reference.getHash(), op);
 
-      threw = false;
+      delete = false;
     } catch (NessieConflictException ex) {
       throw new CommitFailedException(ex, "Commit failed: Reference hash is out of date. " +
           "Update the reference %s and try again", reference.getName());
+    } catch (HttpClientException ex) {
+      // Intentionally catch all nessie-client-exceptions here and not just the "timeout" variant
+      // to catch all kinds of network errors (e.g. connection reset). Network code implementation
+      // details and all kinds of network devices can induce unexpected behavior. So better be
+      // safe than sorry.
+      delete = false;
+      throw new CommitStateUnknownException(ex);
     } catch (NessieNotFoundException ex) {
       throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Commit failed: Reference %s no longer exist", reference.getName()), ex);
     } finally {
-      if (threw) {
+      if (delete) {
         io().deleteFile(newMetadataLocation);
       }
     }
@@ -137,7 +151,7 @@ private String applicationId() {
       }
 
     }
-    return appId == null ? "" : ("\nspark.app.id= " + appId);
+    return appId;
   }
 
 }