diff --git a/src/txnupd.cpp b/src/txnupd.cpp
index dacf41a..a6da1db 100644
--- a/src/txnupd.cpp
+++ b/src/txnupd.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  */
 
 // Standard library includes
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <string>
 
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ struct _PluginHandle {
     PluginMode mode;
     DnfContext * context;                            // store plugin context specific init data
     bool transactional_update;                       // flag to determine if doing a transactional update
+    bool ext_transactional_update;                   // flag to determine if within an existing transactional update
     TransactionalUpdate::Transaction transaction{};  // transactional update object
 };
 
@@ -67,6 +69,7 @@ PluginHandle * pluginInitHandle(int version, PluginMode mode, DnfPluginInitData 
     handle->mode = mode;
     handle->context = pluginGetContext(initData);
     handle->transactional_update = false;
+    handle->ext_transactional_update = (std::getenv("TRANSACTIONAL_UPDATE") != NULL);
     return handle;
 }
 
@@ -112,6 +115,26 @@ static bool setupTransactionalUpdate(PluginHandle * handle) {
         return true;
     }
 
+    /* Disable SWDB when in transactional update mode, as it
+     * it currently causes crashes with transactional updates,
+     * and it is not particularly useful for our case anyway.
+     */
+    if ((handle->transactional_update) || (handle->ext_transactional_update)) {
+        dnf_context_set_write_history(handle->context, FALSE);
+    }
+
+    /* Check if we're already in a transactional update, possibly
+     * externally invoked by tukit or some other consumer of tukit.
+     * In this scenario, bail early to stop us from attempting to
+     * create a transactional update inside of one in progress.
+     */
+    if (handle->ext_transactional_update) {
+        auto txnupdsnap_msg = std::string(info.name) + ": " + __func__ +
+                              ": Warning: running within transactional update, disabling snapshot handling!";
+        logger->warning(txnupdsnap_msg);
+        return true;
+    }
+
     /* Now that we've gotten the basic early-bail conditions handled,
      * let's set up the transaction object to configure transactional
      * updates.
@@ -134,11 +157,6 @@ static bool setupTransactionalUpdate(PluginHandle * handle) {
     auto transactionRoot = handle->transaction.getRoot();
     dnf_context_set_install_root(handle->context, transactionRoot.c_str());
 
-    /* Disable SWDB as it currently causes crashes with transactional updates,
-     * and it is not particularly useful for our case anyway.
-     */
-    dnf_context_set_write_history(handle->context, FALSE);
-
     /* Mark as being in the transactional update mode, so that
      * other functions using the handle can do the right thing later.
      */
@@ -158,6 +176,16 @@ static bool setupTransactionalUpdate(PluginHandle * handle) {
 static bool configureTransactionContext(PluginHandle * handle) {
     auto logger(libdnf::Log::getLogger());
 
+    /* Check to see if we are actually in transactional update mode,
+     * and bail out early if we are not.
+     */
+    if ((!(handle->transactional_update)) && (!(handle->ext_transactional_update))) {
+        auto txnupd_msg =
+            std::string(info.name) + ": " + __func__ + ": Warning: Not a transactional update, so doing nothing!";
+        logger->warning(txnupd_msg);
+        return true;
+    }
+
     /* Set installonlypkgs to nothing to disable multiversioned kernel installation,
      * as we need it disabled for this type of transaction.
      */