diff --git a/terracotta/drivers/relational_meta_store.py b/terracotta/drivers/relational_meta_store.py
index 30c60bf7..794809d3 100644
--- a/terracotta/drivers/relational_meta_store.py
+++ b/terracotta/drivers/relational_meta_store.py
@@ -88,7 +88,9 @@ def __init__(self, path: str) -> None:
             self.url,
             echo=False,
             future=True,
-            connect_args={self.SQL_TIMEOUT_KEY: db_connection_timeout}
+            connect_args={self.SQL_TIMEOUT_KEY: db_connection_timeout},
+            # automatically re-spawn stale connections, see terracotta#266
+            pool_pre_ping=True
         )
         self.sqla_metadata = sqla.MetaData()