diff --git a/config.toml b/config.toml
index a3edb91..3dea8ee 100644
--- a/config.toml
+++ b/config.toml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ description = "A newly created nostr-rs-relay.\n\nCustomize this with your own i
 # Database connection pool settings for subscribers:
 
 # Minimum number of SQLite reader connections
-#min_conn = 4
+#min_conn = 0
 
 # Maximum number of SQLite reader connections.  Recommend setting this
 # to approx the number of cores.
diff --git a/src/repo/sqlite.rs b/src/repo/sqlite.rs
index 91b48e6..b156f0c 100644
--- a/src/repo/sqlite.rs
+++ b/src/repo/sqlite.rs
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ impl SqliteRepo {
             "writer",
             settings,
             OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_READ_WRITE | OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_CREATE,
-            1,
+            0,
             2,
             false,
         );
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ impl SqliteRepo {
             "maintenance",
             settings,
             OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_READ_WRITE | OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_CREATE,
-            1,
+            0,
             2,
             true,
         );
@@ -1199,6 +1199,7 @@ pub fn build_pool(
         .test_on_check_out(true) // no noticeable performance hit
         .min_idle(Some(min_size))
         .max_size(max_size)
+        .idle_timeout(Some(Duration::from_secs(10)))
         .max_lifetime(Some(Duration::from_secs(30)))
         .build(manager)
         .unwrap();