diff --git a/api_tests/run-federation-test.sh b/api_tests/run-federation-test.sh
index ebde0c04d..790da4559 100755
--- a/api_tests/run-federation-test.sh
+++ b/api_tests/run-federation-test.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ popd
 yarn
 yarn api-test || true
 
-killall lemmy_server
+killall -9 lemmy_server
 
 for INSTANCE in lemmy_alpha lemmy_beta lemmy_gamma lemmy_delta lemmy_epsilon; do
   psql "$LEMMY_DATABASE_URL" -c "DROP DATABASE $INSTANCE"
diff --git a/crates/db_queries/src/lib.rs b/crates/db_queries/src/lib.rs
index 8e73ee812..aeeb5cbdc 100644
--- a/crates/db_queries/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/db_queries/src/lib.rs
@@ -283,8 +283,12 @@ pub fn establish_unpooled_connection() -> PgConnection {
       e
     ),
   };
+  establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url(&db_url)
+}
+
+pub fn establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url(db_url: &str) -> PgConnection {
   let conn =
-    PgConnection::establish(&db_url).unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Error connecting to {}", db_url));
+    PgConnection::establish(db_url).unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("Error connecting to {}", db_url));
   embedded_migrations::run(&conn).expect("load migrations");
   conn
 }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 16df7fa36..08a370901 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), LemmyError> {
     Err(_) => settings.get_database_url(),
   };
 
-  let manager = Manager::new(db_url);
+  let manager = Manager::new(&db_url);
   let pool = Pool::new(manager, settings.database.pool_size);
   let conn = &pool.get().await?;
 
@@ -41,13 +41,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), LemmyError> {
   embedded_migrations::run(conn)?;
   run_advanced_migrations(conn)?;
 
-  // TODO can't move the pool into clokwerk, it doesn't yet support async
-  let c1 = pool.get().await?;
-  let c2 = pool.get().await?;
-  let c3 = pool.get().await?;
-  thread::spawn(move || {
-    scheduled_tasks::setup(c1, c2, c3);
-  });
+  thread::spawn(move || scheduled_tasks::setup(&db_url));
 
   // Set up the rate limiter
   let rate_limiter = RateLimit {
diff --git a/src/scheduled_tasks.rs b/src/scheduled_tasks.rs
index 089bd2356..ce5d331df 100644
--- a/src/scheduled_tasks.rs
+++ b/src/scheduled_tasks.rs
@@ -2,28 +2,32 @@
 use clokwerk::{Scheduler, TimeUnits};
 // Import week days and WeekDay
 use diesel::{sql_query, PgConnection, RunQueryDsl};
-use lemmy_db_queries::source::activity::Activity_;
+use lemmy_db_queries::{establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url, source::activity::Activity_};
 use lemmy_db_schema::source::activity::Activity;
 use log::info;
 use std::{thread, time::Duration};
 
-type DeadpoolPgConnection = deadpool_diesel::Connection<PgConnection>;
-
 /// Schedules various cleanup tasks for lemmy in a background thread
-pub fn setup(c1: DeadpoolPgConnection, c2: DeadpoolPgConnection, c3: DeadpoolPgConnection) {
+pub fn setup(db_url: &str) {
   let mut scheduler = Scheduler::new();
 
-  active_counts(&c1);
-  reindex_aggregates_tables(&c1);
-  clear_old_activities(&c1);
+  let conn = &establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url(db_url);
+
+  active_counts(conn);
+  reindex_aggregates_tables(conn);
+  clear_old_activities(conn);
 
+  let db_url2 = db_url.to_owned();
   scheduler.every(1.hour()).run(move || {
-    active_counts(&c2);
-    reindex_aggregates_tables(&c2);
+    let conn = &establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url(&db_url2);
+    active_counts(conn);
+    reindex_aggregates_tables(conn);
   });
 
+  let db_url3 = db_url.to_owned();
   scheduler.every(1.weeks()).run(move || {
-    clear_old_activities(&c3);
+    let conn = &establish_unpooled_connection_with_db_url(&db_url3);
+    clear_old_activities(conn);
   });
 
   // Manually run the scheduler in an event loop