diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index cd31644..6e4d262 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Gleb Sakhnov <gleb.sakhnov@gmail.com>
 Jaap Aarts <jaap.aarts1@gmail.com>
 Jan Mercl <0xjnml@gmail.com>
 Logan Snow <logansnow@protonmail.com>
+Matthew Gabeler-Lee <fastcat@gmail.com>
 Ross Light <ross@zombiezen.com>
 Steffen Butzer <steffen(dot)butzer@outlook.com>
 Yaacov Akiba Slama <ya@slamail.org>
diff --git a/all_test.go b/all_test.go
index bb78a33..fdadde5 100644
--- a/all_test.go
+++ b/all_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 
 	"modernc.org/libc"
 	"modernc.org/mathutil"
+	sqlite3 "modernc.org/sqlite/lib"
 )
 
 func caller(s string, va ...interface{}) {
@@ -2137,3 +2138,69 @@ func TestConstraintUniqueError(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("got error string %q, want %q", errs, want)
 	}
 }
+
+// https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite/-/issues/92
+func TestBeginMode(t *testing.T) {
+	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
+	}()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		mode string
+		want int32
+	}{
+		{"deferred", sqlite3.SQLITE_TXN_NONE},
+		{"immediate", sqlite3.SQLITE_TXN_WRITE},
+		// TODO: how to verify "exclusive" is working differently from immediate,
+		// short of concurrently trying to open the database again? This is only
+		// different in non-WAL journal modes.
+		{"exclusive", sqlite3.SQLITE_TXN_WRITE},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		tt := tt
+		for _, jm := range []string{"delete", "wal"} {
+			jm := jm
+			t.Run(jm+"/"+tt.mode, func(t *testing.T) {
+				// t.Parallel()
+
+				qs := fmt.Sprintf("?_txlock=%s&_pragma=journal_mode(%s)", tt.mode, jm)
+				db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", filepath.Join(tempDir, fmt.Sprintf("testbeginmode-%s.sqlite", tt.mode))+qs)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Failed to open database: %v", err)
+				}
+				defer db.Close()
+				connection, err := db.Conn(context.Background())
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Failed to open connection: %v", err)
+				}
+
+				tx, err := connection.BeginTx(context.Background(), nil)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Failed to begin transaction: %v", err)
+				}
+				defer tx.Rollback()
+				if err := connection.Raw(func(driverConn interface{}) error {
+					p, err := libc.CString("main")
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					c := driverConn.(*conn)
+					defer c.free(p)
+					got := sqlite3.Xsqlite3_txn_state(c.tls, c.db, p)
+					if got != tt.want {
+						return fmt.Errorf("in mode %s, got txn state %d, want %d", tt.mode, got, tt.want)
+					}
+					return nil
+				}); err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Failed to check txn state: %v", err)
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/sqlite.go b/sqlite.go
index 5e03f15..e07d859 100644
--- a/sqlite.go
+++ b/sqlite.go
@@ -726,7 +726,13 @@ type tx struct {
 
 func newTx(c *conn) (*tx, error) {
 	r := &tx{c: c}
-	if err := r.exec(context.Background(), "begin"); err != nil {
+	var sql string
+	if c.beginMode != "" {
+		sql = "begin " + c.beginMode
+	} else {
+		sql = "begin"
+	}
+	if err := r.exec(context.Background(), sql); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -784,6 +790,7 @@ type conn struct {
 	sync.Mutex
 
 	writeTimeFormat string
+	beginMode       string
 }
 
 func newConn(dsn string) (*conn, error) {
@@ -866,6 +873,14 @@ func applyQueryParams(c *conn, query string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if v := q.Get("_txlock"); v != "" {
+		lower := strings.ToLower(v)
+		if lower != "deferred" && lower != "immediate" && lower != "exclusive" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unknown _txlock %q", v)
+		}
+		c.beginMode = v
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -1445,6 +1460,27 @@ func newDriver() *Driver { return &Driver{} }
 // efficient re-use.
 //
 // The returned connection is only used by one goroutine at a time.
+//
+// If name contains a '?', what follows is treated as a query string. This
+// driver supports the following query parameters:
+//
+// _pragma: Each value will be run as a "PRAGMA ..." statement (with the PRAGMA
+// keyword added for you). May be specified more than once. Example:
+// "_pragma=foreign_keys(1)" will enable foreign key enforcement. More
+// information on supported PRAGMAs is available from the SQLite documentation:
+// https://www.sqlite.org/pragma.html
+//
+// _time_format: The name of a format to use when writing time values to the
+// database. Currently the only supported value is "sqlite", which corresponds
+// to format 7 from https://www.sqlite.org/lang_datefunc.html#time_values,
+// including the timezone specifier. If this parameter is not specified, then
+// the default String() format will be used.
+//
+// _txlock: The locking behavior to use when beginning a transaction. May be
+// "deferred", "immediate", or "exclusive" (case insensitive). The default is to
+// not specify one, which SQLite maps to "deferred". More information is
+// available at
+// https://www.sqlite.org/lang_transaction.html#deferred_immediate_and_exclusive_transactions
 func (d *Driver) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 	if LogSqlStatements {
 		log.Println("new connection")