diff --git a/Lib/bsddb/dbtables.py b/Lib/bsddb/dbtables.py
index fd33b6e8fdd..369db43abe9 100644
--- a/Lib/bsddb/dbtables.py
+++ b/Lib/bsddb/dbtables.py
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ def contains_metastrings(s) :
 class bsdTableDB :
     def __init__(self, filename, dbhome, create=0, truncate=0, mode=0600,
                  recover=0, dbflags=0):
-        """bsdTableDB.open(filename, dbhome, create=0, truncate=0, mode=0600)
+        """bsdTableDB(filename, dbhome, create=0, truncate=0, mode=0600)
+
         Open database name in the dbhome BerkeleyDB directory.
         Use keyword arguments when calling this constructor.
         """
@@ -218,7 +219,8 @@ class bsdTableDB :
 
 
     def CreateTable(self, table, columns):
-        """CreateTable(table, columns) - Create a new table in the database
+        """CreateTable(table, columns) - Create a new table in the database.
+
         raises TableDBError if it already exists or for other DB errors.
         """
         assert isinstance(columns, ListType)
@@ -286,7 +288,8 @@ class bsdTableDB :
     def CreateOrExtendTable(self, table, columns):
         """CreateOrExtendTable(table, columns)
 
-        - Create a new table in the database.
+        Create a new table in the database.
+
         If a table of this name already exists, extend it to have any
         additional columns present in the given list as well as
         all of its current columns.
@@ -411,14 +414,15 @@ class bsdTableDB :
 
 
     def Modify(self, table, conditions={}, mappings={}):
-        """Modify(table, conditions) - Modify in rows matching 'conditions'
-        using mapping functions in 'mappings'
-        * conditions is a dictionary keyed on column names
-        containing condition functions expecting the data string as an
-        argument and returning a boolean.
-        * mappings is a dictionary keyed on column names containint condition
-        functions expecting the data string as an argument and returning the
-        new string for that column.
+        """Modify(table, conditions={}, mappings={}) - Modify items in rows matching 'conditions' using mapping functions in 'mappings'
+
+        * table - the table name
+        * conditions - a dictionary keyed on column names containing
+          a condition callable expecting the data string as an
+          argument and returning a boolean.
+        * mappings - a dictionary keyed on column names containing a
+          condition callable expecting the data string as an argument and
+          returning the new string for that column.
         """
         try:
             matching_rowids = self.__Select(table, [], conditions)
@@ -450,7 +454,8 @@ class bsdTableDB :
                         txn.commit()
                         txn = None
 
-                except DBError, dberror:
+                # catch all exceptions here since we call unknown callables
+                except:
                     if txn:
                         txn.abort()
                     raise
@@ -461,9 +466,10 @@ class bsdTableDB :
     def Delete(self, table, conditions={}):
         """Delete(table, conditions) - Delete items matching the given
         conditions from the table.
-        * conditions is a dictionary keyed on column names
-        containing condition functions expecting the data string as an
-        argument and returning a boolean.
+
+        * conditions - a dictionary keyed on column names containing
+          condition functions expecting the data string as an
+          argument and returning a boolean.
         """
         try:
             matching_rowids = self.__Select(table, [], conditions)
@@ -499,11 +505,12 @@ class bsdTableDB :
 
 
     def Select(self, table, columns, conditions={}):
-        """Select(table, conditions) - retrieve specific row data
+        """Select(table, columns, conditions) - retrieve specific row data
         Returns a list of row column->value mapping dictionaries.
-        * columns is a list of which column data to return.  If
+
+        * columns - a list of which column data to return.  If
           columns is None, all columns will be returned.
-        * conditions is a dictionary keyed on column names
+        * conditions - a dictionary keyed on column names
           containing callable conditions expecting the data string as an
           argument and returning a boolean.
         """
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index ec7570eb4fb..370a18e4b71 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ Extension Modules
   results.  It could previously incorrectly return 0 in some cases.
   Fixes SF bug 1493322 (pybsddb bug 1184012).
 
+- bsddb: the bsddb.dbtables Modify method now raises the proper error and
+  aborts the db transaction safely when a modifier callback fails.
+  Fixes SF python patch/bug #1408584.
+
 
 Library
 -------