diff --git a/distsql/request_builder.go b/distsql/request_builder.go
index 328977a98247b..83161d0f25dd7 100644
--- a/distsql/request_builder.go
+++ b/distsql/request_builder.go
@@ -125,7 +125,13 @@ func (builder *RequestBuilder) SetKeepOrder(order bool) *RequestBuilder {
 }
 
 func (builder *RequestBuilder) getIsolationLevel(sv *variable.SessionVars) kv.IsoLevel {
-	isoLevel, _ := sv.GetSystemVar(variable.TxnIsolation)
+	var isoLevel string
+	if sv.TxnIsolationLevelOneShot.State == 2 {
+		isoLevel = sv.TxnIsolationLevelOneShot.Value
+	}
+	if isoLevel == "" {
+		isoLevel, _ = sv.GetSystemVar(variable.TxnIsolation)
+	}
 	if isoLevel == ast.ReadCommitted {
 		return kv.RC
 	}
diff --git a/executor/executor.go b/executor/executor.go
index cbc56398b0fc2..294d07df1afd2 100644
--- a/executor/executor.go
+++ b/executor/executor.go
@@ -66,29 +66,31 @@ var (
 
 // Error instances.
 var (
-	ErrUnknownPlan          = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeUnknownPlan, "Unknown plan")
-	ErrPrepareMulti         = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePrepareMulti, "Can not prepare multiple statements")
-	ErrPrepareDDL           = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePrepareDDL, "Can not prepare DDL statements")
-	ErrPasswordNoMatch      = terror.ClassExecutor.New(CodePasswordNoMatch, "Can't find any matching row in the user table")
-	ErrResultIsEmpty        = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeResultIsEmpty, "result is empty")
-	ErrBuildExecutor        = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeErrBuildExec, "Failed to build executor")
-	ErrBatchInsertFail      = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeBatchInsertFail, "Batch insert failed, please clean the table and try again.")
-	ErrWrongValueCountOnRow = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeWrongValueCountOnRow, "Column count doesn't match value count at row %d")
-	ErrPasswordFormat       = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePasswordFormat, "The password hash doesn't have the expected format. Check if the correct password algorithm is being used with the PASSWORD() function.")
+	ErrUnknownPlan                 = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeUnknownPlan, "Unknown plan")
+	ErrPrepareMulti                = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePrepareMulti, "Can not prepare multiple statements")
+	ErrPrepareDDL                  = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePrepareDDL, "Can not prepare DDL statements")
+	ErrPasswordNoMatch             = terror.ClassExecutor.New(CodePasswordNoMatch, "Can't find any matching row in the user table")
+	ErrResultIsEmpty               = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeResultIsEmpty, "result is empty")
+	ErrBuildExecutor               = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeErrBuildExec, "Failed to build executor")
+	ErrBatchInsertFail             = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeBatchInsertFail, "Batch insert failed, please clean the table and try again.")
+	ErrWrongValueCountOnRow        = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeWrongValueCountOnRow, "Column count doesn't match value count at row %d")
+	ErrPasswordFormat              = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codePasswordFormat, "The password hash doesn't have the expected format. Check if the correct password algorithm is being used with the PASSWORD() function.")
+	ErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics = terror.ClassExecutor.New(codeErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics, "Transaction characteristics can't be changed while a transaction is in progress")
 )
 
 // Error codes.
 const (
-	codeUnknownPlan          terror.ErrCode = 1
-	codePrepareMulti         terror.ErrCode = 2
-	codePrepareDDL           terror.ErrCode = 7
-	codeResultIsEmpty        terror.ErrCode = 8
-	codeErrBuildExec         terror.ErrCode = 9
-	codeBatchInsertFail      terror.ErrCode = 10
-	CodePasswordNoMatch      terror.ErrCode = 1133 // MySQL error code
-	CodeCannotUser           terror.ErrCode = 1396 // MySQL error code
-	codeWrongValueCountOnRow terror.ErrCode = 1136 // MySQL error code
-	codePasswordFormat       terror.ErrCode = 1827 // MySQL error code
+	codeUnknownPlan                    terror.ErrCode = 1
+	codePrepareMulti                   terror.ErrCode = 2
+	codePrepareDDL                     terror.ErrCode = 7
+	codeResultIsEmpty                  terror.ErrCode = 8
+	codeErrBuildExec                   terror.ErrCode = 9
+	codeBatchInsertFail                terror.ErrCode = 10
+	CodePasswordNoMatch                terror.ErrCode = 1133 // MySQL error code
+	CodeCannotUser                     terror.ErrCode = 1396 // MySQL error code
+	codeWrongValueCountOnRow           terror.ErrCode = 1136 // MySQL error code
+	codePasswordFormat                 terror.ErrCode = 1827 // MySQL error code
+	codeErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics terror.ErrCode = 1568
 )
 
 // Row represents a result set row, it may be returned from a table, a join, or a projection.
@@ -604,10 +606,11 @@ func init() {
 		}
 	}
 	tableMySQLErrCodes := map[terror.ErrCode]uint16{
-		CodeCannotUser:           mysql.ErrCannotUser,
-		CodePasswordNoMatch:      mysql.ErrPasswordNoMatch,
-		codeWrongValueCountOnRow: mysql.ErrWrongValueCountOnRow,
-		codePasswordFormat:       mysql.ErrPasswordFormat,
+		CodeCannotUser:                     mysql.ErrCannotUser,
+		CodePasswordNoMatch:                mysql.ErrPasswordNoMatch,
+		codeWrongValueCountOnRow:           mysql.ErrWrongValueCountOnRow,
+		codePasswordFormat:                 mysql.ErrPasswordFormat,
+		codeErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics: mysql.ErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics,
 	}
 	terror.ErrClassToMySQLCodes[terror.ClassExecutor] = tableMySQLErrCodes
 }
diff --git a/executor/set.go b/executor/set.go
index 43cfa8c74df53..3575de68d365b 100644
--- a/executor/set.go
+++ b/executor/set.go
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ func (e *SetExecutor) setSysVariable(name string, v *expression.VarAssignment) e
 			return errors.Trace(err)
 		}
 		oldSnapshotTS := sessionVars.SnapshotTS
+		if name == variable.TxnIsolationOneShot && sessionVars.InTxn() {
+			return errors.Trace(ErrCantChangeTxCharacteristics)
+		}
 		err = variable.SetSessionSystemVar(sessionVars, name, value)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Trace(err)
diff --git a/parser/parser.y b/parser/parser.y
index a67b6926ebdde..abfaa0831043b 100644
--- a/parser/parser.y
+++ b/parser/parser.y
@@ -4560,7 +4560,14 @@ SetStmt:
 	}
 |	"SET" "TRANSACTION" TransactionChars
 	{
-		$$ = &ast.SetStmt{Variables: $3.([]*ast.VariableAssignment)}
+		assigns := $3.([]*ast.VariableAssignment)
+		for i:=0; i<len(assigns); i++ {
+			if assigns[i].Name == "tx_isolation" {
+				// A special session variable that make setting tx_isolation take effect one time.
+				assigns[i].Name = "tx_isolation_one_shot"
+			}
+		}
+		$$ = &ast.SetStmt{Variables: assigns}
 	}
 
 TransactionChars:
diff --git a/session/session.go b/session/session.go
index e209bae05baf1..431bc960ce629 100644
--- a/session/session.go
+++ b/session/session.go
@@ -350,6 +350,17 @@ func (s *session) doCommitWithRetry(ctx context.Context) error {
 	metrics.StatementPerTransaction.WithLabelValues(metrics.RetLabel(err)).Observe(float64(counter))
 	metrics.TransactionDuration.WithLabelValues(metrics.RetLabel(err)).Observe(float64(duration))
 	s.cleanRetryInfo()
+
+	if isoLevelOneShot := &s.sessionVars.TxnIsolationLevelOneShot; isoLevelOneShot.State != 0 {
+		switch isoLevelOneShot.State {
+		case 1:
+			isoLevelOneShot.State = 2
+		case 2:
+			isoLevelOneShot.State = 0
+			isoLevelOneShot.Value = ""
+		}
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Warnf("[%d] finished txn:%v, %v", s.sessionVars.ConnectionID, s.txn, err)
 		return errors.Trace(err)
diff --git a/session/session_test.go b/session/session_test.go
index 855a78ca864db..f5eb31276bbf0 100644
--- a/session/session_test.go
+++ b/session/session_test.go
@@ -1977,6 +1977,30 @@ func (s *testSessionSuite) TestRollbackOnCompileError(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(recoverErr, IsTrue)
 }
 
+func (s *testSessionSuite) TestSetTransactionIsolationOneShot(c *C) {
+	tk := testkit.NewTestKitWithInit(c, s.store)
+	tk.MustExec("create table t (k int, v int)")
+	tk.MustExec("insert t values (1, 42)")
+	tk.MustExec("set transaction isolation level read committed")
+
+	// Check isolation level is set to read committed.
+	ctx := context.WithValue(context.Background(), "CheckSelectRequestHook", func(req *kv.Request) {
+		c.Assert(req.IsolationLevel, Equals, kv.RC)
+	})
+	tk.Se.Execute(ctx, "select * from t where k = 1")
+
+	// Check it just take effect for one time.
+	ctx = context.WithValue(context.Background(), "CheckSelectRequestHook", func(req *kv.Request) {
+		c.Assert(req.IsolationLevel, Equals, kv.SI)
+	})
+	tk.Se.Execute(ctx, "select * from t where k = 1")
+
+	// Can't change isolation level when it's inside a transaction.
+	tk.MustExec("begin")
+	_, err := tk.Se.Execute(ctx, "set transaction isolation level read committed")
+	c.Assert(err, NotNil)
+}
+
 func (s *testSessionSuite) TestDBUserNameLength(c *C) {
 	tk := testkit.NewTestKitWithInit(c, s.store)
 	tk.MustExec("create table if not exists t (a int)")
diff --git a/sessionctx/variable/session.go b/sessionctx/variable/session.go
index 1c9d6fb7d77c0..d0e0ad4e1b556 100644
--- a/sessionctx/variable/session.go
+++ b/sessionctx/variable/session.go
@@ -162,6 +162,15 @@ type SessionVars struct {
 	// Should be reset on transaction finished.
 	TxnCtx *TransactionContext
 
+	// TxnIsolationLevelOneShot is used to implements "set transaction isolation level ..."
+	TxnIsolationLevelOneShot struct {
+		// state 0 means default
+		// state 1 means it's set in current transaction.
+		// state 2 means it should be used in current transaction.
+		State int
+		Value string
+	}
+
 	// Following variables are special for current session.
 
 	Status           uint16
@@ -448,6 +457,9 @@ func (s *SessionVars) deleteSystemVar(name string) error {
 // SetSystemVar sets the value of a system variable.
 func (s *SessionVars) SetSystemVar(name string, val string) error {
 	switch name {
+	case TxnIsolationOneShot:
+		s.TxnIsolationLevelOneShot.State = 1
+		s.TxnIsolationLevelOneShot.Value = val
 	case TimeZone:
 		tz, err := parseTimeZone(val)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -536,6 +548,7 @@ const (
 	MaxAllowedPacket    = "max_allowed_packet"
 	TimeZone            = "time_zone"
 	TxnIsolation        = "tx_isolation"
+	TxnIsolationOneShot = "tx_isolation_one_shot"
 )
 
 // TableDelta stands for the changed count for one table.
diff --git a/sessionctx/variable/sysvar.go b/sessionctx/variable/sysvar.go
index c3cbf0916579f..7f42f4bc07542 100644
--- a/sessionctx/variable/sysvar.go
+++ b/sessionctx/variable/sysvar.go
@@ -631,6 +631,7 @@ var defaultSysVars = []*SysVar{
 	{ScopeSession, TIDBMemQuotaIndexLookupJoin, strconv.FormatInt(DefTiDBMemQuotaIndexLookupJoin, 10)},
 	{ScopeSession, TIDBMemQuotaNestedLoopApply, strconv.FormatInt(DefTiDBMemQuotaNestedLoopApply, 10)},
 	{ScopeSession, TiDBEnableStreaming, "0"},
+	{ScopeSession, TxnIsolationOneShot, ""},
 	/* The following variable is defined as session scope but is actually server scope. */
 	{ScopeSession, TiDBGeneralLog, strconv.Itoa(DefTiDBGeneralLog)},
 	{ScopeSession, TiDBConfig, ""},