diff --git a/ckan/config/environment.py b/ckan/config/environment.py
index 6eaf499193d..16c5842afcf 100644
--- a/ckan/config/environment.py
+++ b/ckan/config/environment.py
@@ -293,6 +293,10 @@ def update_config():
     # CONFIGURATION OPTIONS HERE (note: all config options will override
     # any Pylons config options)
 
+    # Enable pessimistic disconnect handling (added in SQLAlchemy 1.2)
+    # to eliminate database errors due to stale pooled connections
+    config.setdefault('pool_pre_ping', True)
+
     # Initialize SQLAlchemy
     engine = sqlalchemy.engine_from_config(config)
     model.init_model(engine)
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py b/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
index 987b079e973..b3ea070b3bf 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ def _get_engine_from_url(connection_url):
     engine = _engines.get(connection_url)
     if not engine:
         extras = {'url': connection_url}
+        config.setdefault('pool_pre_ping', True)
         engine = sqlalchemy.engine_from_config(config,
                                                'ckan.datastore.sqlalchemy.',
                                                **extras)