diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManager.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManager.java
index bb5140c4755..502ec9d54f8 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManager.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManager.java
@@ -203,7 +203,10 @@ interface AsyncTransactionFunction<I, O> {
   /** Returns the state of the transaction. */
   TransactionState getState();
 
-  /** Returns the {@link CommitResponse} of this transaction. */
+  /**
+   * Returns the {@link CommitResponse} of this transaction. This method may only be called after
+   * committing the transaction.
+   */
   ApiFuture<CommitResponse> getCommitResponse();
 
   /**
diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerImpl.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerImpl.java
index ebba9fa9e17..14089afb82a 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerImpl.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerImpl.java
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ public TransactionState getState() {
 
   @Override
   public ApiFuture<CommitResponse> getCommitResponse() {
+    Preconditions.checkState(
+        txnState == TransactionState.COMMITTED,
+        "getCommitResponse can only be invoked if the transaction was successfully committed");
     return commitResponse;
   }
 
diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerTest.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerTest.java
index 68cf63d872f..59657026e57 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/AsyncTransactionManagerTest.java
@@ -200,6 +200,14 @@ public void asyncTransactionManager_shouldRollbackOnCloseAsync() throws Exceptio
         0L);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testAsyncTransactionManager_getCommitResponseReturnsErrorBeforeCommit() {
+    try (AsyncTransactionManager manager = client().transactionManagerAsync()) {
+      TransactionContextFuture transactionContextFuture = manager.beginAsync();
+      assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, manager::getCommitResponse);
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testAsyncTransactionManager_returnsCommitStats() throws Exception {
     try (AsyncTransactionManager manager =