Strange behaviour i.e SQL%FOUND

Anyone encounter this case.
i know i can help them rewrite this to a different approach but just curious as to what the reasoning could be for this This is a case of 8i to 9 upgrade .
Application code has
set timing on
set time on
set echo on
set serveroutput on
DECLARE
  v_test1 VARCHAR2(1) := 'A';   

BEGIN
   --CREATE A RECORD
  insert into test values ('A');
  commit;
  DELETE FROM test WHERE test1 = v_test1;   commit; --THIS IS THE COMMIT THAT PASSES SQL%FOUND IN ORACLE 8i BUT FAILS IN 9i & 10g   

  IF SQL%FOUND THEN -- delete succeeded/passed     DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('SUCCESS 1');
  ELSE -- delete failed
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('FAILURE 1');        END IF;      END; The results of this code in each DB version is: 8i - SQL%FOUND succeeds (8.1.7.4)
9i - SQL%FOUND fails
10g - SQL%FOUND fails

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