diff --git a/src/include/storage/postgres_connection_pool.hpp b/src/include/storage/postgres_connection_pool.hpp
index 313598c92..0cb71413e 100644
--- a/src/include/storage/postgres_connection_pool.hpp
+++ b/src/include/storage/postgres_connection_pool.hpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class PostgresConnectionPool {
 	vector<PostgresConnection> connection_cache;
 
 private:
-	PostgresPoolConnection GetConnectionInternal();
+	PostgresPoolConnection GetConnectionInternal(unique_lock<mutex> &lock);
 };
 
 } // namespace duckdb
diff --git a/src/storage/postgres_connection_pool.cpp b/src/storage/postgres_connection_pool.cpp
index c80a2e127..a46c190b0 100644
--- a/src/storage/postgres_connection_pool.cpp
+++ b/src/storage/postgres_connection_pool.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ PostgresConnectionPool::PostgresConnectionPool(PostgresCatalog &postgres_catalog
     : postgres_catalog(postgres_catalog), active_connections(0), maximum_connections(maximum_connections_p) {
 }
 
-PostgresPoolConnection PostgresConnectionPool::GetConnectionInternal() {
+PostgresPoolConnection PostgresConnectionPool::GetConnectionInternal(unique_lock<mutex> &lock) {
 	active_connections++;
 	// check if we have any cached connections left
 	if (!connection_cache.empty()) {
@@ -52,23 +52,23 @@ PostgresPoolConnection PostgresConnectionPool::GetConnectionInternal() {
 		connection_cache.pop_back();
 		return connection;
 	}
-
-	// no cached connections left but there is space to open a new one - open it
+	// no cached connections left but there is space to open a new one - open it after releasing the cache lock
+	lock.unlock();
 	return PostgresPoolConnection(
 	    this, PostgresConnection::Open(postgres_catalog.connection_string, postgres_catalog.attach_path));
 }
 
 PostgresPoolConnection PostgresConnectionPool::ForceGetConnection() {
-	lock_guard<mutex> l(connection_lock);
-	return GetConnectionInternal();
+	unique_lock<mutex> l(connection_lock);
+	return GetConnectionInternal(l);
 }
 
 bool PostgresConnectionPool::TryGetConnection(PostgresPoolConnection &connection) {
-	lock_guard<mutex> l(connection_lock);
+	unique_lock<mutex> l(connection_lock);
 	if (active_connections >= maximum_connections) {
 		return false;
 	}
-	connection = GetConnectionInternal();
+	connection = GetConnectionInternal(l);
 	return true;
 }
 
@@ -90,30 +90,42 @@ PostgresPoolConnection PostgresConnectionPool::GetConnection() {
 }
 
 void PostgresConnectionPool::ReturnConnection(PostgresConnection connection) {
-	lock_guard<mutex> l(connection_lock);
+	unique_lock<mutex> l(connection_lock);
 	if (active_connections <= 0) {
 		throw InternalException("PostgresConnectionPool::ReturnConnection called but active_connections is 0");
 	}
-	active_connections--;
-	if (active_connections >= maximum_connections) {
-		// if the maximum number of connections has been decreased by the user we might need to reclaim the connection
-		// immediately
-		return;
-	}
 	if (!pg_use_connection_cache) {
+		// not caching - just return
+		active_connections--;
 		return;
 	}
+	// we want to cache the connection
 	// check if the underlying connection is still usable
+	// avoid holding the lock while doing this
+	l.unlock();
+	bool connection_is_bad = false;
 	auto pg_con = connection.GetConn();
 	if (PQstatus(connection.GetConn()) != CONNECTION_OK) {
 		// CONNECTION_BAD! try to reset it
 		PQreset(pg_con);
 		if (PQstatus(connection.GetConn()) != CONNECTION_OK) {
 			// still bad - just abandon this one
-			return;
+			connection_is_bad = true;
 		}
 	}
-	if (PQtransactionStatus(pg_con) != PQTRANS_IDLE) {
+	if (!connection_is_bad && PQtransactionStatus(pg_con) != PQTRANS_IDLE) {
+		connection_is_bad = true;
+	}
+	// lock and return the connection
+	l.lock();
+	active_connections--;
+	if (connection_is_bad) {
+		// if the connection is bad we cannot cache it
+		return;
+	}
+	if (active_connections >= maximum_connections) {
+		// if the maximum number of connections has been decreased by the user we might need to reclaim the connection
+		// immediately
 		return;
 	}
 	connection_cache.push_back(std::move(connection));