diff --git a/reana_job_controller/config.py b/reana_job_controller/config.py
index e1bc02bb..f0a7b4be 100644
--- a/reana_job_controller/config.py
+++ b/reana_job_controller/config.py
@@ -8,12 +8,17 @@
 
 """Flask application configuration."""
 
+from distutils.util import strtobool
 import os
 
 from reana_commons.config import REANA_COMPONENT_PREFIX
 
 from werkzeug.utils import import_string
 
+REANA_DB_CLOSE_POOL_CONNECTIONS = bool(
+    strtobool(os.getenv("REANA_DB_CLOSE_POOL_CONNECTIONS", "false"))
+)
+
 CACHE_ENABLED = False
 """Determines if jobs caching is enabled."""
 
diff --git a/reana_job_controller/factory.py b/reana_job_controller/factory.py
index 82694734..87557203 100644
--- a/reana_job_controller/factory.py
+++ b/reana_job_controller/factory.py
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ def receive_checkin(dbapi_connection, connection_record):
     # To improve scalability, we should consider refactoring job-controller to avoid
     # accessing the database, or at least consider using external connection pooling
     # mechanisms such as pgBouncer.
-    connection_record.close()
+    if config.REANA_DB_CLOSE_POOL_CONNECTIONS:
+        connection_record.close()
 
 
 def shutdown_session(response_or_exc):