diff --git a/ext/sqlite3/sqlite3.c b/ext/sqlite3/sqlite3.c
index 9b3286b70220d..b16be6932a07b 100644
--- a/ext/sqlite3/sqlite3.c
+++ b/ext/sqlite3/sqlite3.c
@@ -2011,6 +2011,7 @@ PHP_METHOD(SQLite3Result, fetchArray)
 
 		default:
 			php_sqlite3_error(result_obj->db_obj, sqlite3_errcode(sqlite3_db_handle(result_obj->stmt_obj->stmt)), "Unable to execute statement: %s", sqlite3_errmsg(sqlite3_db_handle(result_obj->stmt_obj->stmt)));
+			RETURN_FALSE;
 	}
 }
 /* }}} */
diff --git a/ext/sqlite3/tests/gh20699.phpt b/ext/sqlite3/tests/gh20699.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1b53bfc98e39f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/sqlite3/tests/gh20699.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+--TEST--
+GH-20699 (SQLite3Result fetchArray return array|false, null returned)
+--EXTENSIONS--
+sqlite3
+--CREDITS--
+plusminmax
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$db = new SQLite3(':memory:');
+var_dump($db->prepare('BEGIN;')->execute()->fetchArray());
+?>
+--EXPECTF--
+Warning: SQLite3Result::fetchArray(): Unable to execute statement: cannot start a transaction within a transaction in %s on line %d
+bool(false)