diff --git a/backend/common/tests/test_notification_sse.py b/backend/common/tests/test_notification_sse.py
index 0b91ce116..95df839c0 100644
--- a/backend/common/tests/test_notification_sse.py
+++ b/backend/common/tests/test_notification_sse.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from rest_framework.test import APIClient
 
 from common.models import Notification, Org, Profile, User
+from common.views import notification_views
 from common.views.notification_views import (
     _format_keepalive,
     _format_sse,
@@ -119,6 +120,34 @@ async def runner():
         assert payload["link"] == "/cases/abc"
         assert payload["data"] == {"comment_excerpt": "hi"}
 
+    def test_stream_self_terminates_at_deadline(self):
+        """The stream must end on its own once MAX_STREAM_SECONDS elapses, so a
+        long-open browser tab cannot pin a worker thread / DB connection
+        forever (the connection-exhaustion regression)."""
+        async def runner():
+            pubsub = _StubPubSub()  # no messages -> keepalive-only loop
+            gen = _stream_events(
+                "notif:o:p", recipient_id=self.profile.id, pubsub=pubsub
+            )
+            first = await asyncio.wait_for(gen.__anext__(), timeout=1)
+            stopped = False
+            try:
+                # Deadline already passed -> next pull should end the stream.
+                await asyncio.wait_for(gen.__anext__(), timeout=2)
+            except StopAsyncIteration:
+                stopped = True
+            await gen.aclose()
+            return first, stopped
+
+        original = notification_views.MAX_STREAM_SECONDS
+        notification_views.MAX_STREAM_SECONDS = 0
+        try:
+            first, stopped = asyncio.run(runner())
+        finally:
+            notification_views.MAX_STREAM_SECONDS = original
+        assert first == b": keepalive\n\n"
+        assert stopped, "stream did not terminate at its deadline"
+
     def test_drops_message_for_other_recipient(self):
         n_other = Notification.objects.create(
             org=self.org, recipient=self.other_profile, verb="other"
diff --git a/backend/common/views/notification_views.py b/backend/common/views/notification_views.py
index c0cce8e79..21a91bc21 100644
--- a/backend/common/views/notification_views.py
+++ b/backend/common/views/notification_views.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import json
 import logging
+import time
 
 from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
 from django.http import StreamingHttpResponse
@@ -36,6 +37,17 @@
 
 KEEPALIVE_SECONDS = 15
 
+# Upper bound on a single SSE connection's lifetime. The browser's EventSource
+# transparently reconnects when the server closes the stream, so capping this
+# is invisible to the user but critical for the server: under ASGI the *entire*
+# stream runs inside one request (one `ThreadSensitiveContext`), so an
+# unbounded `while True` stream pins a worker thread — and any DB/redis
+# connection bound to it — for as long as the tab stays open (hours). Left
+# unbounded this is what slowly exhausts a shared Postgres cluster and leaves
+# workers undrainable on deploy. 5 minutes bounds the leak window and lets
+# workers recycle.
+MAX_STREAM_SECONDS = 300
+
 DEFAULT_LIMIT = 20
 MAX_LIMIT = 100
 
@@ -141,38 +153,67 @@ async def _aget_serialized(notif_id, recipient_id):
     """Fetch a notification by id, scoped to recipient. Returns dict or None."""
     @sync_to_async
     def fetch():
-        notif = Notification.objects.filter(
-            pk=notif_id, recipient_id=recipient_id
-        ).first()
-        if notif is None:
-            return None
-        return NotificationSerializer(notif).data
+        from django.db import connection
+
+        try:
+            notif = Notification.objects.filter(
+                pk=notif_id, recipient_id=recipient_id
+            ).first()
+            if notif is None:
+                return None
+            return NotificationSerializer(notif).data
+        finally:
+            # This runs in asgiref's shared thread-sensitive executor, outside
+            # Django's request/response cycle — so `close_old_connections`
+            # never fires for it. Without this explicit close the connection
+            # dangles open (the SSE tests need TransactionTestCase precisely
+            # because of it). Close it so each fetch reclaims its connection.
+            connection.close()
 
     return await fetch()
 
 
+async def _aclose_redis(obj):
+    """Close a redis.asyncio client/pubsub across versions (aclose vs close)."""
+    if obj is None:
+        return
+    closer = getattr(obj, "aclose", None) or getattr(obj, "close", None)
+    if closer is None:
+        return
+    try:
+        result = closer()
+        if asyncio.iscoroutine(result):
+            await result
+    except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - best effort
+        pass
+
+
 async def _open_pubsub(channel: str):
     """Open a redis.asyncio pubsub subscribed to ``channel``.
 
-    Returns ``None`` if Redis is unreachable; the stream then runs in
-    keepalive-only mode (the frontend's polling-since path provides
-    backfill).
+    Returns ``(client, pubsub)``. Both are ``None`` if Redis is unreachable;
+    the stream then runs in keepalive-only mode (the frontend's polling-since
+    path provides backfill). The caller owns closing BOTH the pubsub and the
+    underlying client connection pool — closing only the pubsub leaks the
+    client's pooled connections, one per dropped SSE stream.
     """
     try:
         import redis.asyncio as aioredis  # type: ignore
     except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
-        return None
+        return None, None
     from django.conf import settings
 
     url = getattr(settings, "CELERY_BROKER_URL", None) or "redis://localhost:6379/0"
+    client = None
     try:
         client = aioredis.from_url(url)
         pubsub = client.pubsub()
         await pubsub.subscribe(channel)
-        return pubsub
+        return client, pubsub
     except Exception as exc:
         logger.warning("SSE redis subscribe failed (%s); keepalive-only mode", exc)
-        return None
+        await _aclose_redis(client)
+        return None, None
 
 
 async def _stream_events(channel: str, recipient_id, *, pubsub=None):
@@ -182,12 +223,18 @@ async def _stream_events(channel: str, recipient_id, *, pubsub=None):
     opens its own redis.asyncio pubsub via :func:`_open_pubsub`.
     """
     owns_pubsub = pubsub is None
+    client = None
     if owns_pubsub:
-        pubsub = await _open_pubsub(channel)
+        client, pubsub = await _open_pubsub(channel)
+    deadline = time.monotonic() + MAX_STREAM_SECONDS
     try:
         # Initial comment so the client confirms the stream opened.
         yield _format_keepalive()
         while True:
+            # Bounded lifetime: end the stream so the worker thread and its
+            # DB/redis connections are released. EventSource reconnects.
+            if time.monotonic() >= deadline:
+                return
             if pubsub is None:
                 await asyncio.sleep(KEEPALIVE_SECONDS)
                 yield _format_keepalive()
@@ -211,12 +258,15 @@ async def _stream_events(channel: str, recipient_id, *, pubsub=None):
                 continue
             yield _format_sse("notification", payload)
     finally:
-        if owns_pubsub and pubsub is not None:
-            try:
-                await pubsub.unsubscribe(channel)
-                await pubsub.close()
-            except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - best effort
-                pass
+        if owns_pubsub:
+            if pubsub is not None:
+                try:
+                    await pubsub.unsubscribe(channel)
+                except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - best effort
+                    pass
+                await _aclose_redis(pubsub)
+            # Close the underlying client pool too — not just the pubsub.
+            await _aclose_redis(client)
 
 
 def _drive_async_gen(agen):
@@ -271,6 +321,18 @@ def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         profile_id = request.profile.id
         channel = notif_mod.channel_for(org_id, profile_id)
 
+        # Release THIS request thread's DB connection before streaming begins.
+        # Under ASGI the entire stream runs inside one request's
+        # ThreadSensitiveContext, so the connection opened by auth/middleware
+        # would otherwise stay checked out for the full (possibly hours-long)
+        # stream — one leaked Postgres connection per open browser tab, which
+        # is what exhausts the shared cluster. The stream's own reads go
+        # through a separate executor (see `_aget_serialized`) and close
+        # themselves, so dropping this one is safe.
+        from django.db import connection
+
+        connection.close()
+
         response = StreamingHttpResponse(
             _drive_async_gen(_stream_events(channel, profile_id)),
             content_type="text/event-stream",