diff --git a/.changeset/quiet-databases-close.md b/.changeset/quiet-databases-close.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69a357589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/quiet-databases-close.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@electric-sql/pglite': patch
+---
+
+Prevent `close()` from hanging when called while a query or transaction is in
+flight. Work started before `close()` is allowed to finish, while later
+operations are rejected.
diff --git a/packages/pglite/src/pglite.ts b/packages/pglite/src/pglite.ts
index 517a4376a..b105a1c9e 100644
--- a/packages/pglite/src/pglite.ts
+++ b/packages/pglite/src/pglite.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ export class PGlite
   #ready = false
   #closing = false
   #closed = false
+  #closePromise?: Promise<void>
   #relaxedDurability = false
 
   readonly waitReady: Promise<void>
@@ -784,10 +785,32 @@ export class PGlite
    * Close the database
    * @returns A promise that resolves when the database is closed
    */
-  async close() {
-    await this._checkReady()
+  close() {
+    if (!this.#closePromise) {
+      this.#closePromise = this.#close()
+    }
+    return this.#closePromise
+  }
+
+  async #close() {
+    if (!this.#ready) {
+      await this.waitReady
+    }
+    // Claim the lifecycle transition synchronously once initialization is
+    // complete so later operations cannot queue behind close().
     this.#closing = true
 
+    // Let operations that passed _checkReady() before close() was called
+    // enqueue on the mutexes. Operations started after close() are rejected
+    // synchronously by the #closing flag set above.
+    await Promise.resolve()
+
+    await this._runExclusiveTransaction(() =>
+      this._runExclusiveQuery(() => this.#closeExclusive()),
+    )
+  }
+
+  async #closeExclusive() {
     // Close all extensions
     for (const closeFn of this.#extensionsClose) {
       await closeFn()
@@ -893,6 +916,12 @@ export class PGlite
       // Starting the database can take a while and it might not be ready yet
       // We'll wait for it to be ready before continuing
       await this.waitReady
+      if (this.#closing) {
+        throw new Error('PGlite is closing')
+      }
+      if (this.#closed) {
+        throw new Error('PGlite is closed')
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/pglite/tests/targets/runtimes/node-close.test.js b/packages/pglite/tests/targets/runtimes/node-close.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..10b567127
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pglite/tests/targets/runtimes/node-close.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process'
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+const pgliteUrl = new URL('../../../dist/index.js', import.meta.url).href
+
+async function expectChildToExitCleanly(script) {
+  const result = await new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const child = spawn(
+      process.execPath,
+      ['--input-type=module', '--eval', script, pgliteUrl],
+      { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'] },
+    )
+    let stderr = ''
+    let settled = false
+
+    const finish = (result) => {
+      if (settled) return
+      settled = true
+      clearTimeout(timeout)
+      resolve(result)
+    }
+
+    child.stderr.setEncoding('utf8')
+    child.stderr.on('data', (chunk) => {
+      stderr += chunk
+      stderr = stderr.slice(-4_000)
+    })
+
+    const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+      child.kill('SIGKILL')
+      finish({ code: null, stderr: 'PGlite close timed out' })
+    }, 5_000)
+
+    child.on('error', (error) => {
+      finish({ code: null, stderr: error.message })
+    })
+    child.on('exit', (code) => {
+      finish({ code, stderr })
+    })
+  })
+
+  expect(result).toEqual({ code: 0, stderr: '' })
+}
+
+describe('close', () => {
+  it('waits for an in-flight query before shutting down', async () => {
+    await expectChildToExitCleanly(`
+      const { PGlite } = await import(process.argv[1])
+      const db = new PGlite()
+
+      await db.exec('CREATE TABLE t (workflow_name TEXT, run_id TEXT)')
+      await db.exec("INSERT INTO t VALUES ('agentic-loop', 'run-1')")
+
+      const query = db.query(
+        'DELETE FROM t WHERE workflow_name = $1 AND run_id = $2',
+        ['agentic-loop', 'run-1'],
+      )
+      const close = db.close()
+
+      await Promise.all([query, close])
+    `)
+  }, 10_000)
+
+  it('waits for an active transaction before shutting down', async () => {
+    await expectChildToExitCleanly(`
+      const { PGlite } = await import(process.argv[1])
+      const db = new PGlite()
+
+      await db.exec('CREATE TABLE t (value INTEGER)')
+
+      let markTransactionStarted
+      const transactionStarted = new Promise((resolve) => {
+        markTransactionStarted = resolve
+      })
+      let resumeTransaction
+      const transactionGate = new Promise((resolve) => {
+        resumeTransaction = resolve
+      })
+      const events = []
+
+      const transaction = db.transaction(async (tx) => {
+        markTransactionStarted()
+        await transactionGate
+        await tx.query('INSERT INTO t VALUES (1)')
+        events.push('transaction')
+      })
+
+      await transactionStarted
+      const close = db.close().then(() => events.push('close'))
+      resumeTransaction()
+      await Promise.all([transaction, close])
+
+      if (events.join(',') !== 'transaction,close') {
+        throw new Error('close did not wait for the active transaction')
+      }
+    `)
+  }, 10_000)
+
+  it('closes once during initialization and rejects later queries', async () => {
+    const { PGlite } = await import(pgliteUrl)
+    const db = new PGlite()
+
+    const firstClose = db.close()
+    expect(db.close()).toBe(firstClose)
+    await expect(db.query('SELECT 1')).rejects.toThrow('PGlite is closing')
+
+    await firstClose
+    expect(db.closed).toBe(true)
+  }, 10_000)
+})