diff --git a/pgloader/db.py b/pgloader/db.py
index 20398c0..0feb75a 100644
--- a/pgloader/db.py
+++ b/pgloader/db.py
@@ -89,9 +89,16 @@ class db:
             self.commits       += 1
             self.commited_rows += self.running_commands
 
+        self.close()
+
+    def close(self):
+        """ close self.dbconn PostgreSQL connection """
         if self.dbconn is not None:
+            self.log.debug('closing current connection')
             self.dbconn.close()
 
+            self.dbconn = None
+
     def set_encoding(self):
         """ set connection encoding to self.client_encoding """
         # debug only cause reconnecting happens on every
@@ -195,10 +202,7 @@ ORDER BY attnum
         self.partial_coldef    = None
 
         try:
-            if self.dbconn is not None:
-                self.log.debug('Debug: closing current connection')
-                self.dbconn.close()
-
+            self.close()
             self.log.debug('Debug: connecting to dns %s', self.dsn)
 
             self.dbconn = psycopg.connect(self.dsn)
diff --git a/pgloader/pgloader.py b/pgloader/pgloader.py
index 14149d1..3ce9a50 100644
--- a/pgloader/pgloader.py
+++ b/pgloader/pgloader.py
@@ -152,6 +152,10 @@ class PGLoader(threading.Thread):
             
         self.log.debug('%s init done' % name)
 
+    def __del__(self):
+        """ PGLoader destructor, we close the db connection """
+        self.db.close()
+
     def _dbconnect(self, config):
         """ connects to database """
         section = 'pgsql'
@@ -841,6 +845,10 @@ class PGLoader(threading.Thread):
     def terminate(self):
         """ Announce it's over and free the concurrency control semaphore """
 
+        # force PostgreSQL connection closing, do not wait for garbage
+        # collector
+        self.db.close()
+
         self.log.debug("releasing %s semaphore" % self.logname)
         self.sem.release()