diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b7ed7ac2cb..de52af8afe 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -424,6 +424,11 @@ name = "postgres"
 path = "tests/postgres/postgres.rs"
 required-features = ["postgres"]
 
+[[test]]
+name = "postgres-pool"
+path = "tests/postgres/pool.rs"
+required-features = ["postgres", "runtime-tokio"]
+
 [[test]]
 name = "postgres-types"
 path = "tests/postgres/types.rs"
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
index 7912b12aa1..590d75c5f5 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use super::inner::{is_beyond_max_lifetime, DecrementSizeGuard, PoolInner};
 use crate::pool::options::PoolConnectionMetadata;
 
 const CLOSE_ON_DROP_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
+const RETURN_TO_POOL_PING_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
 
 /// A connection managed by a [`Pool`][crate::pool::Pool].
 ///
@@ -311,19 +312,32 @@ impl<DB: Database> Floating<DB, Live<DB>> {
         // returned to the pool; also of course, if it was dropped due to an error
         // this is simply a band-aid as SQLx-next connections should be able
         // to recover from cancellations
-        if let Err(error) = self.raw.ping().await {
-            tracing::warn!(
-                %error,
-                "error occurred while testing the connection on-release",
-            );
-
-            // Connection is broken, don't try to gracefully close.
-            self.close_hard().await;
-            false
-        } else {
-            // if the connection is still viable, release it to the pool
-            self.release();
-            true
+        match crate::rt::timeout(RETURN_TO_POOL_PING_TIMEOUT, self.raw.ping()).await {
+            Ok(Ok(())) => {
+                // if the connection is still viable, release it to the pool
+                self.release();
+                true
+            }
+            Ok(Err(error)) => {
+                tracing::warn!(
+                    %error,
+                    "error occurred while testing the connection on-release",
+                );
+
+                // Connection is broken, don't try to gracefully close.
+                self.close_hard().await;
+                false
+            }
+            Err(_) => {
+                tracing::warn!(
+                    timeout = ?RETURN_TO_POOL_PING_TIMEOUT,
+                    "timed out while testing the connection on-release",
+                );
+
+                // The connection is unresponsive, so avoid all async connection I/O here.
+                // Dropping `self` synchronously releases the pool guard and discards the socket.
+                false
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/postgres/pool.rs b/tests/postgres/pool.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb030b7874
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/postgres/pool.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+use std::sync::{
+    atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering},
+    Arc,
+};
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+use sqlx::postgres::{PgConnectOptions, PgPoolOptions, PgSslMode};
+use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
+use tokio::net::{TcpListener, TcpStream};
+
+const AUTHENTICATION_OK: &[u8] = b"R\0\0\0\x08\0\0\0\0";
+const BACKEND_KEY_DATA: &[u8] = b"K\0\0\0\x0c\0\0\0\x01\0\0\0\x02";
+const READY_FOR_QUERY: &[u8] = b"Z\0\0\0\x05I";
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn return_to_pool_ping_timeout_recovers_pool_capacity() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let server = FakePostgresServer::bind().await?;
+    let options = PgConnectOptions::new()
+        .host("127.0.0.1")
+        .port(server.port())
+        .username("postgres")
+        .database("postgres")
+        .ssl_mode(PgSslMode::Disable);
+
+    let pool = PgPoolOptions::new()
+        .min_connections(0)
+        .max_connections(1)
+        .acquire_timeout(Duration::from_secs(8))
+        .test_before_acquire(false)
+        .connect_with(options)
+        .await?;
+
+    let conn = pool.acquire().await?;
+    assert_eq!(server.connection_count(), 1);
+
+    drop(conn);
+
+    let conn = pool.acquire().await?;
+    assert_eq!(server.connection_count(), 2);
+
+    conn.close().await?;
+    pool.close().await;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+struct FakePostgresServer {
+    port: u16,
+    connection_count: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
+}
+
+impl FakePostgresServer {
+    async fn bind() -> std::io::Result<Self> {
+        let listener = TcpListener::bind(("127.0.0.1", 0)).await?;
+        let port = listener.local_addr()?.port();
+        let connection_count = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0));
+
+        tokio::spawn(accept_connections(listener, Arc::clone(&connection_count)));
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            port,
+            connection_count,
+        })
+    }
+
+    fn port(&self) -> u16 {
+        self.port
+    }
+
+    fn connection_count(&self) -> usize {
+        self.connection_count.load(Ordering::SeqCst)
+    }
+}
+
+async fn accept_connections(listener: TcpListener, connection_count: Arc<AtomicUsize>) {
+    while let Ok((socket, _)) = listener.accept().await {
+        connection_count.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
+
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            let _ = handle_connection(socket).await;
+        });
+    }
+}
+
+async fn handle_connection(mut socket: TcpStream) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    read_startup_message(&mut socket).await?;
+
+    socket.write_all(AUTHENTICATION_OK).await?;
+    socket.write_all(BACKEND_KEY_DATA).await?;
+    socket.write_all(READY_FOR_QUERY).await?;
+    socket.flush().await?;
+
+    let mut buf = [0_u8; 1024];
+
+    loop {
+        if socket.read(&mut buf).await? == 0 {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+async fn read_startup_message(socket: &mut TcpStream) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    let mut len = [0_u8; 4];
+    socket.read_exact(&mut len).await?;
+
+    let len = u32::from_be_bytes(len) as usize;
+    let mut body = vec![0_u8; len.saturating_sub(4)];
+    socket.read_exact(&mut body).await?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}