diff --git a/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateExceptionTranslator.java b/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateExceptionTranslator.java
index 96c0c26e76..fc247d49f5 100644
--- a/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateExceptionTranslator.java
+++ b/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateExceptionTranslator.java
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ public class HibernateExceptionTranslator implements PersistenceExceptionTransla
 			DataAccessException dae = this.jdbcExceptionTranslator.translate(
 					"Hibernate operation: " + jdbcEx.getMessage(), jdbcEx.getSQL(), jdbcEx.getSQLException());
 			if (dae != null) {
-				throw dae;
+				return dae;
 			}
 		}
 		return SessionFactoryUtils.convertHibernateAccessException(ex);
diff --git a/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateTransactionManager.java b/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateTransactionManager.java
index ea1c8026d2..5ece030b1d 100644
--- a/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateTransactionManager.java
+++ b/spring-orm/src/main/java/org/springframework/orm/hibernate5/HibernateTransactionManager.java
@@ -784,8 +784,6 @@ public class HibernateTransactionManager extends AbstractPlatformTransactionMana
 	/**
 	 * Convert the given HibernateException to an appropriate exception
 	 * from the {@code org.springframework.dao} hierarchy.
-	 * <p>Will automatically apply a specified SQLExceptionTranslator to a
-	 * Hibernate JDBCException, else rely on Hibernate's default translation.
 	 * @param ex the HibernateException that occurred
 	 * @return a corresponding DataAccessException
 	 * @see SessionFactoryUtils#convertHibernateAccessException