diff --git a/src/background/runner.rs b/src/background/runner.rs
index 841b5c34435..4bd31ee6cd1 100644
--- a/src/background/runner.rs
+++ b/src/background/runner.rs
@@ -79,8 +79,10 @@ impl<Env: RefUnwindSafe + Send + Sync + 'static> Runner<Env> {
     where
         F: FnOnce(storage::BackgroundJob) -> CargoResult<()> + Send + UnwindSafe + 'static,
     {
-        let conn = self.connection().expect("Could not acquire connection");
+        // The connection may not be `Send` so we need to clone the pool instead
+        let pool = self.connection_pool.clone();
         self.thread_pool.execute(move || {
+            let conn = pool.get().expect("Could not acquire connection");
             conn.transaction::<_, Box<dyn CargoError>, _>(|| {
                 let job = storage::find_next_unlocked_job(&conn).optional()?;
                 let job = match job {
@@ -192,7 +194,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let remaining_jobs = background_jobs
             .count()
-            .get_result(&runner.connection().unwrap());
+            .get_result(&*runner.connection().unwrap());
         assert_eq!(Ok(0), remaining_jobs);
     }
 
@@ -223,7 +225,7 @@ mod tests {
             .select(id)
             .filter(retries.eq(0))
             .for_update()
-            .load::<i64>(&conn)
+            .load::<i64>(&*conn)
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(0, available_jobs.len());
 
@@ -231,7 +233,7 @@ mod tests {
         let total_jobs_including_failed = background_jobs
             .select(id)
             .for_update()
-            .load::<i64>(&conn)
+            .load::<i64>(&*conn)
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(1, total_jobs_including_failed.len());
 
@@ -251,7 +253,7 @@ mod tests {
             .find(job_id)
             .select(retries)
             .for_update()
-            .first::<i32>(&runner.connection().unwrap())
+            .first::<i32>(&*runner.connection().unwrap())
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(1, tries);
     }
@@ -277,7 +279,7 @@ mod tests {
     impl<'a> Drop for TestGuard<'a> {
         fn drop(&mut self) {
             ::diesel::sql_query("TRUNCATE TABLE background_jobs")
-                .execute(&runner().connection().unwrap())
+                .execute(&*runner().connection().unwrap())
                 .unwrap();
         }
     }
@@ -290,14 +292,14 @@ mod tests {
         let manager = r2d2::ConnectionManager::new(database_url);
         let pool = r2d2::Pool::builder().max_size(2).build(manager).unwrap();
 
-        Runner::builder(pool, ()).thread_count(2).build()
+        Runner::builder(DieselPool::Pool(pool), ()).thread_count(2).build()
     }
 
     fn create_dummy_job(runner: &Runner<()>) -> storage::BackgroundJob {
         ::diesel::insert_into(background_jobs)
             .values((job_type.eq("Foo"), data.eq(json!(null))))
             .returning((id, job_type, data))
-            .get_result(&runner.connection().unwrap())
+            .get_result(&*runner.connection().unwrap())
             .unwrap()
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/bin/background-worker.rs b/src/bin/background-worker.rs
index 1f1254dda39..79550914b31 100644
--- a/src/bin/background-worker.rs
+++ b/src/bin/background-worker.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ fn main() {
 
     // We're only using 1 thread, so we only need 1 connection
     let db_config = r2d2::Pool::builder().max_size(1);
-    let db_pool = db::diesel_pool(&config.db_url, db_config);
+    let db_pool = db::diesel_pool(&config.db_url, config.env, db_config);
 
     let builder = background::Runner::builder(db_pool, environment).thread_count(1);
     let runner = job_runner(builder);
diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index c70466b1643..8448638886f 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use conduit::Request;
 use diesel::prelude::*;
 use diesel::r2d2::{self, ConnectionManager, CustomizeConnection};
 use parking_lot::{ReentrantMutex, ReentrantMutexGuard};
+use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::ops::Deref;
 use url::Url;
 
@@ -12,9 +13,10 @@ use crate::util::CargoResult;
 use crate::Env;
 
 #[allow(missing_debug_implementations)]
+#[derive(Clone)]
 pub enum DieselPool {
     Pool(r2d2::Pool<ConnectionManager<PgConnection>>),
-    Test(ReentrantMutex<PgConnection>),
+    Test(Arc<ReentrantMutex<PgConnection>>),
 }
 
 impl DieselPool {
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ impl DieselPool {
     }
 
     fn test_conn(conn: PgConnection) -> Self {
-        DieselPool::Test(ReentrantMutex::new(conn))
+        DieselPool::Test(Arc::new(ReentrantMutex::new(conn)))
     }
 }
 
@@ -43,6 +45,8 @@ pub enum DieselPooledConn<'a> {
     Test(ReentrantMutexGuard<'a, PgConnection>),
 }
 
+unsafe impl<'a> Send for DieselPooledConn<'a> {}
+
 impl Deref for DieselPooledConn<'_> {
     type Target = PgConnection;