diff --git a/api/config/settings/common.py b/api/config/settings/common.py
index be2fa136c..4f97756b8 100644
--- a/api/config/settings/common.py
+++ b/api/config/settings/common.py
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ DATABASES = {
     "default": env.db("DATABASE_URL")
 }
 DATABASES["default"]["ATOMIC_REQUESTS"] = True
+DATABASES["default"]["CONN_MAX_AGE"] = env("DB_CONN_MAX_AGE", default=60 * 60)
 
 MIGRATION_MODULES = {
     # see https://github.com/jazzband/django-oauth-toolkit/issues/634
diff --git a/changes/changelog.d/db.enhancement b/changes/changelog.d/db.enhancement
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..396d9daa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/changelog.d/db.enhancement
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Keep persistent connections to the database instead of recreating a new one for each request