diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/db/query_pool.py b/src/nominatim_db/db/query_pool.py
index 08a92048..2f7307a3 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/db/query_pool.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/db/query_pool.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # This file is part of Nominatim. (https://nominatim.org)
 #
-# Copyright (C) 2024 by the Nominatim developer community.
+# Copyright (C) 2026 by the Nominatim developer community.
 # For a full list of authors see the git log.
 """
 A connection pool that executes incoming queries in parallel.
@@ -27,20 +27,28 @@ class QueryPool:
         The results of the queries is discarded.
     """
     def __init__(self, dsn: str, pool_size: int = 1, **conn_args: Any) -> None:
+        self.is_cancelled = False
         self.wait_time = 0.0
         self.query_queue: 'asyncio.Queue[QueueItem]' = asyncio.Queue(maxsize=2 * pool_size)
 
-        self.pool = [asyncio.create_task(self._worker_loop(dsn, **conn_args))
+        self.pool = [asyncio.create_task(self._worker_loop_cancellable(dsn, **conn_args))
                      for _ in range(pool_size)]
 
     async def put_query(self, query: psycopg.abc.Query, params: Any) -> None:
         """ Schedule a query for execution.
         """
+        if self.is_cancelled:
+            await self.finish()
+            return
+
         tstart = time.time()
         await self.query_queue.put((query, params))
         self.wait_time += time.time() - tstart
         await asyncio.sleep(0)
 
+        if self.is_cancelled:
+            await self.finish()
+
     async def finish(self) -> None:
         """ Wait for all queries to finish and close the pool.
         """
@@ -56,6 +64,25 @@ class QueryPool:
             if excp is not None:
                 raise excp
 
+    def clear_queue(self) -> None:
+        """ Drop all items silently that might still be queued.
+        """
+        try:
+            while True:
+                self.query_queue.get_nowait()
+        except asyncio.QueueEmpty:
+            pass  # expected
+
+    async def _worker_loop_cancellable(self, dsn: str, **conn_args: Any) -> None:
+        try:
+            await self._worker_loop(dsn, **conn_args)
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Make sure the exception is forwarded to the main function
+            self.is_cancelled = True
+            # clear the queue here to ensure that any put() that may be blocked returns
+            self.clear_queue()
+            raise e
+
     async def _worker_loop(self, dsn: str, **conn_args: Any) -> None:
         conn_args['autocommit'] = True
         aconn = await psycopg.AsyncConnection.connect(dsn, **conn_args)