diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/postgres_rust.py b/synapse/storage/engines/postgres_rust.py
index e95dc437eb..43024d89b0 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/postgres_rust.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/postgres_rust.py
@@ -31,10 +31,6 @@ Per-connection session setup (isolation level, ``synchronous_commit``,
 ``statement_timeout``) lives in the Rust connection pool rather than in
 ``on_new_connection``, so that hook is a no-op here.
 
-Not yet adapted (the engine is not yet selectable via ``create_engine``, so
-these are not reached): ``check_database`` / ``server_version`` still read
-psycopg2 connection attributes, and per-transaction isolation-level overrides
-are unimplemented. Both are follow-ups for the full ``make_pool`` wiring.
 """
 
 import logging
@@ -43,6 +39,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Mapping
 from synapse.storage.engines._base import (
     AUTO_INCREMENT_PRIMARY_KEYPLACEHOLDER,
     IncorrectDatabaseSetup,
+    IsolationLevel,
 )
 from synapse.storage.engines.postgres_base import PostgresEngine
 from synapse.storage.types import Connection, Cursor
@@ -60,6 +57,18 @@ _RETRYABLE_PGCODES = ("40001", "40P01")
 class RustPostgresEngine(PostgresEngine[Connection, Cursor]):
     """A :class:`PostgresEngine` that talks to the Rust backend's shim."""
 
+    # SQL isolation-level names for each `IsolationLevel`. The shim has no
+    # psycopg2-style `set_isolation_level`, so a per-transaction override is
+    # applied as a `SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS` statement (see
+    # `attempt_to_set_isolation_level`). REPEATABLE READ is the default that the
+    # pool applies at connection setup, matching `PostgresEngine`.
+    _ISOLATION_LEVEL_SQL: Mapping[int, str] = {
+        IsolationLevel.READ_COMMITTED: "READ COMMITTED",
+        IsolationLevel.REPEATABLE_READ: "REPEATABLE READ",
+        IsolationLevel.SERIALIZABLE: "SERIALIZABLE",
+    }
+    _DEFAULT_ISOLATION_LEVEL_SQL = "REPEATABLE READ"
+
     def __init__(self, database_config: Mapping[str, Any]):
         # The module is the Rust backend's DBAPI2 exception hierarchy
         # (OperationalError, DatabaseError, IntegrityError, …); the transaction
@@ -108,12 +117,29 @@ class RustPostgresEngine(PostgresEngine[Connection, Cursor]):
     def attempt_to_set_isolation_level(
         self, conn: Any, isolation_level: int | None
     ) -> None:
-        # Per-transaction isolation overrides are not implemented for the shim
-        # yet; the connection's default level is set when the pool opens it.
-        raise NotImplementedError(
-            "per-transaction isolation levels are not supported by the Rust "
-            "Postgres backend yet"
-        )
+        # psycopg2 has `conn.set_isolation_level`; the shim does not, so set the
+        # session's default transaction isolation directly. It applies to the
+        # next transaction the caller opens — `new_transaction` sets it before
+        # the transaction and resets it (`isolation_level=None`) afterwards, so
+        # the override is scoped to that one transaction. `isolation_level` is a
+        # fixed `IsolationLevel`, so the interpolated name is not user-controlled.
+        if isolation_level is None:
+            level_sql = self._DEFAULT_ISOLATION_LEVEL_SQL
+        else:
+            level_sql = self._ISOLATION_LEVEL_SQL[isolation_level]
+
+        # `SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS` only affects *subsequent* transactions,
+        # so commit it (SET is transactional — a rollback would undo it) before
+        # the caller's transaction begins.
+        cursor = conn.cursor()
+        try:
+            cursor.execute(
+                "SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS AS TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL "
+                + level_sql
+            )
+        finally:
+            cursor.close()
+        conn.commit()
 
     @staticmethod
     def executescript(cursor: Any, script: str) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_rust_engine.py b/tests/storage/test_rust_engine.py
index b624362120..0665bfdac9 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_rust_engine.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_rust_engine.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine, Psycopg2Engine, create_engine
+from synapse.storage.engines._base import IsolationLevel
 from synapse.storage.engines.postgres_rust import RustPostgresEngine
 from synapse.synapse_rust.database import postgres
 
@@ -81,9 +82,40 @@ class RustPostgresEngineTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         # Neither is an unrelated exception.
         self.assertFalse(self.engine.is_deadlock(ValueError("unrelated")))
 
-    def test_isolation_level_override_not_yet_supported(self) -> None:
-        with self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError):
-            self.engine.attempt_to_set_isolation_level(object(), None)
+    def test_isolation_level_sets_session_characteristics(self) -> None:
+        # The shim has no psycopg2 `set_isolation_level`, so the engine issues a
+        # `SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS` statement (and commits it) instead. Check
+        # the level mapping, and that `None` resets to the default (REPEATABLE
+        # READ) — see `attempt_to_set_isolation_level`.
+        executed: list[str] = []
+
+        class FakeCursor:
+            def execute(self, sql: str) -> None:
+                executed.append(sql)
+
+            def close(self) -> None:
+                pass
+
+        class FakeConn:
+            def cursor(self) -> "FakeCursor":
+                return FakeCursor()
+
+            def commit(self) -> None:
+                executed.append("COMMIT")
+
+        conn = FakeConn()
+        self.engine.attempt_to_set_isolation_level(conn, IsolationLevel.SERIALIZABLE)
+        self.engine.attempt_to_set_isolation_level(conn, None)
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            executed,
+            [
+                "SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS AS TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE",
+                "COMMIT",
+                "SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS AS TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL REPEATABLE READ",
+                "COMMIT",
+            ],
+        )
 
     def test_create_engine_selects_rust_only_when_opted_in(self) -> None:
         # Default: the psycopg2 engine.