diff --git a/pkg/database/database.go b/pkg/database/database.go
index 658b2bdf6..e4099b073 100644
--- a/pkg/database/database.go
+++ b/pkg/database/database.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/fvbommel/sortorder"
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var DB *sqlx.DB
+var WriteMu *sync.Mutex
 var dbPath string
 var appSchemaVersion uint = 19
 var databaseSchemaVersion uint
@@ -63,6 +65,7 @@ func Initialize(databasePath string) bool {
 
 	const disableForeignKeys = false
 	DB = open(databasePath, disableForeignKeys)
+	WriteMu = &sync.Mutex{}
 
 	return false
 }
@@ -77,6 +80,7 @@ func open(databasePath string, disableForeignKeys bool) *sqlx.DB {
 	conn, err := sqlx.Open(sqlite3Driver, url)
 	conn.SetMaxOpenConns(25)
 	conn.SetMaxIdleConns(4)
+	conn.SetConnMaxLifetime(30 * time.Second)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Fatalf("db.Open(): %q\n", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/transaction.go b/pkg/sqlite/transaction.go
index 8ec0fd5d2..50016db45 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/transaction.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/transaction.go
@@ -176,17 +176,15 @@ func (t *ReadTransaction) Tag() models.TagReader {
 }
 
 type TransactionManager struct {
-	// only allow one write transaction at a time
-	c chan struct{}
 }
 
 func NewTransactionManager() *TransactionManager {
-	return &TransactionManager{
-		c: make(chan struct{}, 1),
-	}
+	return &TransactionManager{}
 }
 
 func (t *TransactionManager) WithTxn(ctx context.Context, fn func(r models.Repository) error) error {
+	database.WriteMu.Lock()
+	defer database.WriteMu.Unlock()
 	return models.WithTxn(&transaction{Ctx: ctx}, fn)
 }