diff --git a/backends/postgres/postgres_backend.go b/backends/postgres/postgres_backend.go
index c8bdbc5..ca78ca1 100644
--- a/backends/postgres/postgres_backend.go
+++ b/backends/postgres/postgres_backend.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ var (
 	// DefaultConnectionTimeout defines the default amount of time that Neoq waits for connections to become available.
 	DefaultConnectionTimeout         = 30 * time.Second
 	txCtxVarKey                      contextKey
+	reconnectWaitTime                = 5 * time.Second
 	shutdownJobID                    = "-1" // job ID announced when triggering a shutdown
 	shutdownAnnouncementAllowance    = 100  // ms
 	ErrCnxString                     = errors.New("invalid connecton string: see documentation for valid connection strings")
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ type PgBackend struct {
 	newQueues      chan string                // a channel that indicates that new queues are ready to be processed
 	readyQueues    chan string                // a channel that indicates which queues are ready to have jobs processed.
 	listenCancelCh chan context.CancelFunc    // cancellation channel for the listenerConn's WaitForNotification call.
+	listenConnDown chan bool                  // listenConnDown indicates that the listener connection is down
 	listenerConn   *pgx.Conn                  // dedicated connection that LISTENs for jobs across all queues
 	listenerConnMu *sync.RWMutex              // listenerConnMu protects the listener connection from concurrent access
 	logger         logging.Logger             // backend-wide logger
@@ -135,6 +137,7 @@ func Backend(ctx context.Context, opts ...neoq.ConfigOption) (pb neoq.Neoq, err
 		listenerConnMu: &sync.RWMutex{},
 		mu:             &sync.RWMutex{},
 		listenCancelCh: make(chan context.CancelFunc, 1),
+		listenConnDown: make(chan bool),
 	}
 
 	// Set all options
@@ -183,14 +186,10 @@ func Backend(ctx context.Context, opts ...neoq.ConfigOption) (pb neoq.Neoq, err
 		}
 	}
 
-	p.listenerConn, err = p.newListenerConn(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		p.logger.Error("unable to initialize listener connection", slog.Any("error", err))
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create neoq listener connection: %w", err)
-	}
-
 	// monitor handlers for changes and LISTEN when new queues are added
-	go p.newQueueMonitor(ctx)
+	go p.listenerManager(ctx)
+
+	p.listenConnDown <- true
 
 	p.cron.Start()
 
@@ -199,12 +198,36 @@ func Backend(ctx context.Context, opts ...neoq.ConfigOption) (pb neoq.Neoq, err
 	return pb, nil
 }
 
-// newQueueMonitor monitors for new queues and instruct's the listener connection to LISTEN for jobs on them
-func (p *PgBackend) newQueueMonitor(ctx context.Context) {
+// listenerManager manages the LISTENer connection and adding queue to it
+func (p *PgBackend) listenerManager(ctx context.Context) {
+	var err error
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
+		case <-p.listenConnDown:
+			lc, err := p.newListenerConn(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				p.logger.Error("listener connection is down, and unable to reconnect", slog.Any("error", err))
+				continue
+			}
+
+			p.listenerConnMu.Lock()
+			p.listenerConn = lc
+			p.mu.Lock()
+			handlers := p.handlers
+			p.mu.Unlock()
+
+			for queue := range handlers {
+				_, err = p.listenerConn.Exec(ctx, fmt.Sprintf(`LISTEN %q`, queue))
+				if err != nil {
+					p.logger.Error("unable to listen on queue", slog.Any("error", err), slog.String("queue", queue))
+				}
+			}
+
+			p.listenerConnMu.Unlock()
+
+			p.logger.Debug("worker database connection established")
 		case newQueue := <-p.newQueues:
 			p.logger.Debug("configure new handler", "queue", newQueue)
 		setup_listeners:
@@ -217,9 +240,19 @@ func (p *PgBackend) newQueueMonitor(ctx context.Context) {
 			default:
 			}
 
+			p.listenerConnMu.Lock()
+			lc := p.listenerConn
+			p.listenerConnMu.Unlock()
+			if lc == nil || lc.IsClosed() {
+				p.logger.Error("worker database connection closed and will attempt to reconnect periodically. jobs are not being processed")
+				p.listenConnDown <- true
+				time.Sleep(reconnectWaitTime)
+				continue
+			}
+
 			p.listenerConnMu.Lock()
 			// note: 'LISTEN, channel' is idempotent
-			_, err := p.listenerConn.Exec(ctx, fmt.Sprintf(`LISTEN %q`, newQueue))
+			_, err = p.listenerConn.Exec(ctx, fmt.Sprintf(`LISTEN %q`, newQueue))
 			p.listenerConnMu.Unlock()
 			if err != nil {
 				err = fmt.Errorf("unable to configure listener connection: %w", err)
@@ -951,6 +984,16 @@ func (p *PgBackend) listen(ctx context.Context) (c chan *pgconn.Notification, er
 				}
 
 				p.logger.Error("failed to wait for notification", slog.Any("error", waitErr))
+
+				p.listenerConnMu.Lock()
+				lc := p.listenerConn
+				p.listenerConnMu.Unlock()
+				if lc == nil || lc.IsClosed() {
+					p.logger.Error("worker database connection closed and will attempt to reconnect periodically. jobs are not being processed")
+					p.listenConnDown <- true
+					time.Sleep(reconnectWaitTime)
+				}
+
 				continue
 			}