diff --git a/src/main/java/com/aws/greengrass/disk/spool/DiskSpoolDAO.java b/src/main/java/com/aws/greengrass/disk/spool/DiskSpoolDAO.java
index fdc99a2..fc99aa2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/aws/greengrass/disk/spool/DiskSpoolDAO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/aws/greengrass/disk/spool/DiskSpoolDAO.java
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ public DiskSpoolDAO(NucleusPaths paths) throws IOException {
      * @throws SQLException if database is unable to be created
      */
     public void initialize() throws SQLException {
+        registerDriver();
         try (LockScope ls = LockScope.lock(connectionLock.writeLock())) {
             close();
             connection = createConnection();
@@ -116,6 +117,16 @@ public void initialize() throws SQLException {
         }
     }
 
+    private void registerDriver() throws SQLException {
+        try {
+            // driver is registered statically within JDBC,
+            // so it will only happen once
+            Class.forName("org.sqlite.JDBC");
+        } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
+            throw new SQLException("unable to load driver", e);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Close any open DAO resources, including database connections.
      */