diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a92c67d8..3c3db27d 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -467,3 +467,6 @@ name = "any-pool"
 path = "benches/any/pool.rs"
 required-features = ["runtime-tokio", "any"]
 harness = false
+
+[profile.bench]
+debug = true
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/inner.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/inner.rs
index eb6e827e..046834a4 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/pool/inner.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/inner.rs
@@ -156,12 +156,6 @@ impl<DB: Database> PoolInner<DB> {
                 return Poll::Ready(Err(Error::PoolClosed));
             }
 
-            if let Poll::Ready(()) = deadline.as_mut().poll(cx) {
-                return Poll::Ready(Err(Error::PoolTimedOut {
-                    last_connect_error: connect_shared.take_error().map(Box::new),
-                }));
-            }
-
             if let Poll::Ready(res) = acquire_connected.as_mut().poll(cx) {
                 match res {
                     Ok(conn) => {
@@ -205,6 +199,12 @@ impl<DB: Database> PoolInner<DB> {
                 return Poll::Ready(res);
             }
 
+            if let Poll::Ready(()) = deadline.as_mut().poll(cx) {
+                return Poll::Ready(Err(Error::PoolTimedOut {
+                    last_connect_error: connect_shared.take_error().map(Box::new),
+                }));
+            }
+
             return Poll::Pending;
         })
         .await?;
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs
index 2385c998..c1964c7c 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/shard.rs
@@ -303,12 +303,6 @@ impl<T> Shard<T, [Arc<Mutex<Option<T>>>]> {
         Mask(!locked_set & connected_mask)
     }
 
-    /// Choose the first index that is unlocked with bit `connected`
-    #[inline]
-    fn next_unlocked(&self, connected: bool) -> Option<ConnectionIndex> {
-        self.unlocked_mask(connected).next()
-    }
-
     async fn acquire(self: &Arc<Self>, connected: bool) -> SlotGuard<T> {
         // Attempt an unfair acquire first, before we modify the waitlist.
         if let Some(locked) = self.try_acquire(connected) {
@@ -323,18 +317,34 @@ impl<T> Shard<T, [Arc<Mutex<Option<T>>>]> {
 
         event_listener::listener!(event_to_listen => listener);
 
-        // We need to check again after creating the event listener,
-        // because in the meantime, a concurrent task may have seen that there were no listeners
-        // and just unlocked its connection.
-        if let Some(locked) = self.try_acquire(connected) {
-            return locked;
-        }
+        let mut listener = pin!(listener);
 
-        listener.await
+        loop {
+            // We need to check again after creating the event listener,
+            // because in the meantime, a concurrent task may have seen that there were no listeners
+            // and just unlocked its connection.
+            match rt::timeout(NON_LOCAL_ACQUIRE_DELAY, listener.as_mut()).await {
+                Ok(slot) => return slot,
+                Err(_) => {
+                    if let Some(slot) = self.try_acquire(connected) {
+                        return slot;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     fn try_acquire(self: &Arc<Self>, connected: bool) -> Option<SlotGuard<T>> {
-        self.try_lock(self.next_unlocked(connected)?)
+        // If `locked_set` is constantly changing, don't loop forever.
+        for index in self.unlocked_mask(connected) {
+            if let Some(slot) = self.try_lock(index) {
+                return Some(slot);
+            }
+
+            std::hint::spin_loop();
+        }
+
+        None
     }
 
     fn try_lock(self: &Arc<Self>, index: ConnectionIndex) -> Option<SlotGuard<T>> {
@@ -353,7 +363,7 @@ impl<T> Shard<T, [Arc<Mutex<Option<T>>>]> {
     }
 
     fn iter_min_connections(self: &Arc<Self>) -> impl Iterator<Item = DisconnectedSlot<T>> + '_ {
-        (0..self.connections.len())
+        self.unlocked_mask(false)
             .filter_map(|index| {
                 let slot = self.try_lock(index)?;
 
@@ -493,7 +503,7 @@ impl<T> DisconnectedSlot<T> {
             &self.0.shard.leaked_set,
             self.0.index,
             true,
-            Ordering::Release,
+            Ordering::AcqRel,
         );
 
         self.0.shard.leak_event.notify(usize::MAX.tag(self.0.index));
@@ -627,7 +637,7 @@ impl<T> Drop for SlotGuard<T> {
         // but then fail to lock the mutex for it.
         drop(locked);
 
-        atomic_set(&self.shard.locked_set, self.index, false, Ordering::Release);
+        atomic_set(&self.shard.locked_set, self.index, false, Ordering::AcqRel);
     }
 }
 
@@ -737,7 +747,7 @@ impl Iterator for Mask {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-    use super::{Params, MAX_SHARD_SIZE};
+    use super::{Mask, Params, MAX_SHARD_SIZE};
 
     #[test]
     fn test_params() {
@@ -762,4 +772,27 @@ mod tests {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_mask() {
+        let inputs: &[(usize, &[usize])] = &[
+            (0b0, &[]),
+            (0b1, &[0]),
+            (0b11, &[0, 1]),
+            (0b111, &[0, 1, 2]),
+            (0b1000, &[3]),
+            (0b1001, &[0, 3]),
+            (0b1001001, &[0, 3, 6]),
+        ];
+
+        for (mask, expected_indices) in inputs {
+            let actual_indices = Mask(*mask).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+            assert_eq!(
+                actual_indices[..],
+                expected_indices[..],
+                "invalid mask: {mask:b}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
 }