diff --git a/src/crawlee/storage_clients/_sql/_storage_client.py b/src/crawlee/storage_clients/_sql/_storage_client.py
index cb2c4bde92..302ef80bbc 100644
--- a/src/crawlee/storage_clients/_sql/_storage_client.py
+++ b/src/crawlee/storage_clients/_sql/_storage_client.py
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, ClassVar
 
+from sqlalchemy import event
 from sqlalchemy.exc import IntegrityError, OperationalError
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncEngine, async_sessionmaker, create_async_engine
-from sqlalchemy.sql import insert, select, text
+from sqlalchemy.sql import insert, select
 from typing_extensions import override
 
 from crawlee._utils.docs import docs_group
@@ -22,7 +23,9 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from types import TracebackType
 
+    from sqlalchemy.engine.interfaces import DBAPIConnection
     from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
+    from sqlalchemy.pool import ConnectionPoolEntry
 
 
 logger = getLogger(__name__)
@@ -72,8 +75,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._initialized = False
         self.session_maker: None | async_sessionmaker[AsyncSession] = None
 
-        # Flag needed to apply optimizations only for default database
-        self._default_flag = self._engine is None and self._connection_string is None
+        self._listeners_registered = False
         self._dialect_name: str | None = None
 
         # Call the notification only once
@@ -115,9 +117,10 @@ async def initialize(self, configuration: Configuration) -> None:
         """
         if not self._initialized:
             engine = self._get_or_create_engine(configuration)
-            async with engine.begin() as conn:
-                self._dialect_name = engine.dialect.name
 
+            self._dialect_name = engine.dialect.name
+
+            async with engine.begin() as conn:
                 if self._dialect_name not in self._SUPPORTED_DIALECTS:
                     raise ValueError(
                         f'Unsupported database dialect: {self._dialect_name}. Supported: '
@@ -128,16 +131,8 @@ async def initialize(self, configuration: Configuration) -> None:
                 # Rollback the transaction when an exception occurs.
                 # This is likely an attempt to create a database from several parallel processes.
                 try:
-                    # Set SQLite pragmas for performance and consistency
-                    if self._default_flag:
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL'))  # Better concurrency
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL'))  # Balanced safety/speed
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA cache_size=100000'))  # 100MB cache
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA temp_store=MEMORY'))  # Memory temp storage
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA mmap_size=268435456'))  # 256MB memory mapping
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON'))  # Enforce constraints
-                        await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA busy_timeout=30000'))  # 30s busy timeout
                     await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all, checkfirst=True)
+
                     from crawlee import __version__  # Noqa: PLC0415
 
                     db_version = (await conn.execute(select(VersionDb))).scalar_one_or_none()
@@ -153,6 +148,7 @@ async def initialize(self, configuration: Configuration) -> None:
                         )
                     elif not db_version:
                         await conn.execute(insert(VersionDb).values(version=__version__))
+
                 except (IntegrityError, OperationalError):
                     await conn.rollback()
 
@@ -161,6 +157,10 @@ async def initialize(self, configuration: Configuration) -> None:
     async def close(self) -> None:
         """Close the database connection pool."""
         if self._engine is not None:
+            if self._listeners_registered:
+                event.remove(self._engine.sync_engine, 'connect', self._on_connect)
+                self._listeners_registered = False
+
             await self._engine.dispose()
         self._engine = None
 
@@ -285,4 +285,21 @@ def _get_or_create_engine(self, configuration: Configuration) -> AsyncEngine:
             connect_args=connect_args,
             **kwargs,
         )
+
+        event.listen(self._engine.sync_engine, 'connect', self._on_connect)
+        self._listeners_registered = True
+
         return self._engine
+
+    def _on_connect(self, dbapi_conn: DBAPIConnection, _connection_record: ConnectionPoolEntry) -> None:
+        """Event listener for new database connections to set pragmas."""
+        if self._dialect_name == 'sqlite':
+            cursor = dbapi_conn.cursor()
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL')  # Better concurrency
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL')  # Balanced safety/speed
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA cache_size=100000')  # 100MB cache
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA temp_store=MEMORY')  # Memory temp storage
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA mmap_size=268435456')  # 256MB memory mapping
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON')  # Enforce constraints
+            cursor.execute('PRAGMA busy_timeout=30000')  # 30s busy timeout
+            cursor.close()
diff --git a/tests/unit/storage_clients/_sql/test_sql_storage_client.py b/tests/unit/storage_clients/_sql/test_sql_storage_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93202b54b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/storage_clients/_sql/test_sql_storage_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from sqlalchemy import text
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine
+
+from crawlee.configuration import Configuration
+from crawlee.storage_clients import SqlStorageClient
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+
+async def test_sqlite_wal_mode_with_default_connection(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Test that WAL mode is applied for the default SQLite connection."""
+    configuration = Configuration(storage_dir=str(tmp_path))
+
+    async with SqlStorageClient() as storage_client:
+        await storage_client.initialize(configuration)
+
+        async with storage_client.engine.begin() as conn:
+            result = await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA journal_mode'))
+            assert result.scalar() == 'wal'
+
+
+async def test_sqlite_wal_mode_with_connection_string(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Test that WAL mode is applied when using a custom SQLite connection string."""
+    db_path = tmp_path / 'test.db'
+    configuration = Configuration(storage_dir=str(tmp_path))
+
+    async with SqlStorageClient(connection_string=f'sqlite+aiosqlite:///{db_path}') as storage_client:
+        await storage_client.initialize(configuration)
+
+        async with storage_client.engine.begin() as conn:
+            result = await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA journal_mode'))
+            assert result.scalar() == 'wal'
+
+
+async def test_sqlite_wal_mode_not_applied_with_custom_engine(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Test that WAL mode is not applied when using a user-provided engine."""
+    db_path = tmp_path / 'test.db'
+    configuration = Configuration(storage_dir=str(tmp_path))
+    engine = create_async_engine(f'sqlite+aiosqlite:///{db_path}', future=True)
+
+    async with SqlStorageClient(engine=engine) as storage_client:
+        await storage_client.initialize(configuration)
+
+        async with engine.begin() as conn:
+            result = await conn.execute(text('PRAGMA journal_mode'))
+            assert result.scalar() != 'wal'
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index dcffbb003a..fdf6c75858 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ resolution-markers = [
     "python_full_version < '3.11'",
 ]
 
+[options]
+exclude-newer = "2026-04-04T22:02:40.053808872Z"
+exclude-newer-span = "PT24H"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "aiomysql"
 version = "0.3.2"