diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/postgres/listener.rs b/sqlx-core/src/postgres/listener.rs
index a8dfd0ed..38c92011 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/postgres/listener.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/postgres/listener.rs
@@ -135,11 +135,71 @@ impl PgListener {
     }
 
     /// Receives the next notification available from any of the subscribed channels.
+    ///
+    /// If the connection to PostgreSQL is lost, it is automatically reconnected on the next
+    /// call to `recv()`, and should be entirely transparent (as long as it was just an
+    /// intermittent network failure or long-lived connection reaper).
+    ///
+    /// As notifications are transient, any received while the connection was lost, will not
+    /// be returned. If you'd prefer the reconnection to be explicit and have a chance to
+    /// do something before, please see [`try_recv`].
+    ///
+    /// # Example
+    ///
+    /// ```rust,no_run
+    /// # use sqlx_core::postgres::PgListener;
+    /// # use sqlx_core::error::Error;
+    /// #
+    /// # sqlx_rt::block_on::<_, Result<(), Error>>(async move {
+    /// # let mut listener = PgListener::connect("postgres:// ...").await?;
+    /// loop {
+    ///     // ask for next notification, re-connecting (transparently) if needed
+    ///     let notification = listener.recv().await?;
+    ///
+    ///     // handle notification, do something interesting
+    /// }
+    /// # Ok(())
+    /// # }).unwrap();
+    /// ```
+    ///
+    /// [`try_recv`]: #method.try_recv
     pub async fn recv(&mut self) -> Result<PgNotification, Error> {
+        loop {
+            if let Some(notification) = self.try_recv().await? {
+                return Ok(notification);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Receives the next notification available from any of the subscribed channels.
+    ///
+    /// If the connection to PostgreSQL is lost, `None` is returned, and the connection is
+    /// reconnected on the next call to `try_recv()`.
+    ///
+    /// # Example
+    ///
+    /// ```rust,no_run
+    /// # use sqlx_core::postgres::PgListener;
+    /// # use sqlx_core::error::Error;
+    /// #
+    /// # sqlx_rt::block_on::<_, Result<(), Error>>(async move {
+    /// # let mut listener = PgListener::connect("postgres:// ...").await?;
+    /// loop {
+    ///     // start handling notifications, connecting if needed
+    ///     while let Some(notification) = listener.try_recv().await? {
+    ///         // handle notification
+    ///     }
+    ///
+    ///     // connection lost, do something interesting
+    /// }
+    /// # Ok(())
+    /// # }).unwrap();
+    /// ```
+    pub async fn try_recv(&mut self) -> Result<Option<PgNotification>, Error> {
         // Flush the buffer first, if anything
         // This would only fill up if this listener is used as a connection
         if let Ok(Some(notification)) = self.buffer_rx.try_next() {
-            return Ok(PgNotification(notification));
+            return Ok(Some(PgNotification(notification)));
         }
 
         loop {
@@ -155,7 +215,8 @@ impl PgListener {
                     self.buffer_tx = self.connection().stream.notifications.take();
                     self.connection = None;
 
-                    continue;
+                    // lost connection
+                    return Ok(None);
                 }
 
                 // Forward other errors
@@ -167,7 +228,7 @@ impl PgListener {
             match message.format {
                 // We've received an async notification, return it.
                 MessageFormat::NotificationResponse => {
-                    return Ok(PgNotification(message.decode()?));
+                    return Ok(Some(PgNotification(message.decode()?)));
                 }
 
                 // Mark the connection as ready for another query
@@ -182,6 +243,12 @@ impl PgListener {
     }
 
     /// Consume this listener, returning a `Stream` of notifications.
+    ///
+    /// The backing connection will be automatically reconnected should it be lost.
+    ///
+    /// This has the same potential drawbacks as [`recv`].
+    ///
+    /// [`recv`]: #method.recv
     pub fn into_stream(mut self) -> impl Stream<Item = Result<PgNotification, Error>> + Unpin {
         Box::pin(try_stream! {
             loop {