diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/backend.rs b/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/backend.rs
index 001d76f739..8dff4ba29f 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/backend.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/backend.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ pub trait AnyConnectionBackend: std::any::Any + Debug + Send + 'static {
         Box::pin(async move { Ok(()) })
     }
 
+    /// Forward to [`Connection::shrink_buffers()`].
+    ///
+    /// [`Connection::shrink_buffers()`]: method@crate::connection::Connection::shrink_buffers
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self);
+
     #[doc(hidden)]
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, crate::Result<()>>;
 
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/mod.rs
index 004a94e9f6..57fc726ec2 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/any/connection/mod.rs
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ impl Connection for AnyConnection {
         self.backend.clear_cached_statements()
     }
 
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        self.backend.shrink_buffers()
+    }
+
     #[doc(hidden)]
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), Error>> {
         self.backend.flush()
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/connection.rs b/sqlx-core/src/connection.rs
index d437269157..dfafda686c 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/connection.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/connection.rs
@@ -112,6 +112,20 @@ pub trait Connection: Send {
         Box::pin(async move { Ok(()) })
     }
 
+    /// Restore any buffers in the connection to their default capacity, if possible.
+    ///
+    /// Sending a large query or receiving a resultset with many columns can cause the connection
+    /// to allocate additional buffer space to fit the data which is retained afterwards in
+    /// case it's needed again. This can give the outward appearance of a memory leak, but is
+    /// in fact the intended behavior.
+    ///
+    /// Calling this method tells the connection to release that excess memory if it can,
+    /// though be aware that calling this too often can cause unnecessary thrashing or
+    /// fragmentation in the global allocator. If there's still data in the connection buffers
+    /// (unlikely if the last query was run to completion) then it may need to be moved to
+    /// allow the buffers to shrink.
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self);
+
     #[doc(hidden)]
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), Error>>;
 
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/buffered.rs b/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/buffered.rs
index dc05c87863..3dd5f64146 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/buffered.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/net/socket/buffered.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::net::Socket;
 use bytes::BytesMut;
-use std::io;
+use std::{cmp, io};
 
 use crate::error::Error;
 
@@ -46,26 +46,7 @@ impl<S: Socket> BufferedSocket<S> {
     }
 
     pub async fn read_buffered(&mut self, len: usize) -> io::Result<BytesMut> {
-        while self.read_buf.read.len() < len {
-            self.read_buf.reserve(len);
-
-            let read = self.socket.read(&mut self.read_buf.available).await?;
-
-            if read == 0 {
-                return Err(io::Error::new(
-                    io::ErrorKind::UnexpectedEof,
-                    format!(
-                        "expected to read {} bytes, got {} bytes at EOF",
-                        len,
-                        self.read_buf.read.len()
-                    ),
-                ));
-            }
-
-            self.read_buf.advance(read);
-        }
-
-        Ok(self.read_buf.drain(len))
+        self.read_buf.read(len, &mut self.socket).await
     }
 
     pub fn write_buffer(&self) -> &WriteBuffer {
@@ -123,6 +104,12 @@ impl<S: Socket> BufferedSocket<S> {
         self.socket.shutdown().await
     }
 
+    pub fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        // Won't drop data still in the buffer.
+        self.write_buf.shrink();
+        self.read_buf.shrink();
+    }
+
     pub fn into_inner(self) -> S {
         self.socket
     }
@@ -197,6 +184,22 @@ impl WriteBuffer {
         &mut self.buf[self.bytes_flushed..self.bytes_written]
     }
 
+    pub fn shrink(&mut self) {
+        if self.bytes_flushed > 0 {
+            // Move any data that remains to be flushed to the beginning of the buffer,
+            // if necessary.
+            self.buf
+                .copy_within(self.bytes_flushed..self.bytes_written, 0);
+            self.bytes_written -= self.bytes_flushed;
+            self.bytes_flushed = 0
+        }
+
+        // Drop excess capacity.
+        self.buf
+            .truncate(cmp::max(self.bytes_written, DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE));
+        self.buf.shrink_to_fit();
+    }
+
     fn consume(&mut self, amt: usize) {
         let new_bytes_flushed = self
             .bytes_flushed
@@ -218,6 +221,31 @@ impl WriteBuffer {
 }
 
 impl ReadBuffer {
+    async fn read(&mut self, len: usize, socket: &mut impl Socket) -> io::Result<BytesMut> {
+        // Because of how `BytesMut` works, we should only be shifting capacity back and forth
+        // between `read` and `available` unless we have to read an oversize message.
+        while self.read.len() < len {
+            self.reserve(len - self.read.len());
+
+            let read = socket.read(&mut self.available).await?;
+
+            if read == 0 {
+                return Err(io::Error::new(
+                    io::ErrorKind::UnexpectedEof,
+                    format!(
+                        "expected to read {} bytes, got {} bytes at EOF",
+                        len,
+                        self.read.len()
+                    ),
+                ));
+            }
+
+            self.advance(read);
+        }
+
+        Ok(self.drain(len))
+    }
+
     fn reserve(&mut self, amt: usize) {
         if let Some(additional) = amt.checked_sub(self.available.capacity()) {
             self.available.reserve(additional);
@@ -231,4 +259,21 @@ impl ReadBuffer {
     fn drain(&mut self, amt: usize) -> BytesMut {
         self.read.split_to(amt)
     }
+
+    fn shrink(&mut self) {
+        if self.available.capacity() > DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE {
+            // `BytesMut` doesn't have a way to shrink its capacity,
+            // but we only use `available` for spare capacity anyway so we can just replace it.
+            //
+            // If `self.read` still contains data on the next call to `advance` then this might
+            // force a memcpy as they'll no longer be pointing to the same allocation,
+            // but that's kind of unavoidable.
+            //
+            // The `async-std` impl of `Socket` will also need to re-zero the buffer,
+            // but that's also kind of unavoidable.
+            //
+            // We should be warning the user not to call this often.
+            self.available = BytesMut::with_capacity(DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs b/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
index 9bd0ebb85b..e73f4f2735 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/pool/connection.rs
@@ -73,6 +73,18 @@ impl<DB: Database> AsMut<DB::Connection> for PoolConnection<DB> {
 }
 
 impl<DB: Database> PoolConnection<DB> {
+    /// Close this connection, allowing the pool to open a replacement.
+    ///
+    /// Equivalent to calling [`.detach()`] then [`.close()`], but the connection permit is retained
+    /// for the duration so that the pool may not exceed `max_connections`.
+    ///
+    /// [`.detach()`]: PoolConnection::detach
+    /// [`.close()`]: Connection::close
+    pub async fn close(mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        let floating = self.take_live().float(self.pool.clone());
+        floating.inner.raw.close().await
+    }
+
     /// Detach this connection from the pool, allowing it to open a replacement.
     ///
     /// Note that if your application uses a single shared pool, this
diff --git a/sqlx-mysql/src/any.rs b/sqlx-mysql/src/any.rs
index 303522fa6a..768d38ff83 100644
--- a/sqlx-mysql/src/any.rs
+++ b/sqlx-mysql/src/any.rs
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ impl AnyConnectionBackend for MySqlConnection {
         MySqlTransactionManager::start_rollback(self)
     }
 
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        Connection::shrink_buffers(self);
+    }
+
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, sqlx_core::Result<()>> {
         Connection::flush(self)
     }
diff --git a/sqlx-mysql/src/connection/mod.rs b/sqlx-mysql/src/connection/mod.rs
index 98144fc0d6..c7b3543d23 100644
--- a/sqlx-mysql/src/connection/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-mysql/src/connection/mod.rs
@@ -108,4 +108,8 @@ impl Connection for MySqlConnection {
     {
         Transaction::begin(self)
     }
+
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        self.stream.shrink_buffers();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/sqlx-postgres/src/any.rs b/sqlx-postgres/src/any.rs
index fed7422046..32effc3121 100644
--- a/sqlx-postgres/src/any.rs
+++ b/sqlx-postgres/src/any.rs
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ impl AnyConnectionBackend for PgConnection {
         PgTransactionManager::start_rollback(self)
     }
 
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        Connection::shrink_buffers(self);
+    }
+
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, sqlx_core::Result<()>> {
         Connection::flush(self)
     }
diff --git a/sqlx-postgres/src/connection/mod.rs b/sqlx-postgres/src/connection/mod.rs
index e1a44e80e9..2bbc38fa4a 100644
--- a/sqlx-postgres/src/connection/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-postgres/src/connection/mod.rs
@@ -199,6 +199,10 @@ impl Connection for PgConnection {
         })
     }
 
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        self.stream.shrink_buffers();
+    }
+
     #[doc(hidden)]
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), Error>> {
         self.wait_until_ready().boxed()
diff --git a/sqlx-sqlite/src/any.rs b/sqlx-sqlite/src/any.rs
index 517d601986..e4cfb609cc 100644
--- a/sqlx-sqlite/src/any.rs
+++ b/sqlx-sqlite/src/any.rs
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ impl AnyConnectionBackend for SqliteConnection {
         SqliteTransactionManager::start_rollback(self)
     }
 
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        // NO-OP.
+    }
+
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, sqlx_core::Result<()>> {
         Connection::flush(self)
     }
diff --git a/sqlx-sqlite/src/connection/mod.rs b/sqlx-sqlite/src/connection/mod.rs
index 2ea1b66ed9..903353be14 100644
--- a/sqlx-sqlite/src/connection/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-sqlite/src/connection/mod.rs
@@ -157,6 +157,11 @@ impl Connection for SqliteConnection {
         })
     }
 
+    #[inline]
+    fn shrink_buffers(&mut self) {
+        // No-op.
+    }
+
     #[doc(hidden)]
     fn flush(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), Error>> {
         // For SQLite, FLUSH does effectively nothing...
diff --git a/tests/mysql/mysql.rs b/tests/mysql/mysql.rs
index 009a23f5e0..58f4369095 100644
--- a/tests/mysql/mysql.rs
+++ b/tests/mysql/mysql.rs
@@ -446,3 +446,34 @@ async fn it_can_work_with_transactions() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[sqlx_macros::test]
+async fn test_shrink_buffers() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    // We don't really have a good way to test that `.shrink_buffers()` functions as expected
+    // without exposing a lot of internals, but we can at least be sure it doesn't
+    // materially affect the operation of the connection.
+
+    let mut conn = new::<MySql>().await?;
+
+    // The connection buffer is only 8 KiB by default so this should definitely force it to grow.
+    let data = "This string should be 32 bytes!\n".repeat(1024);
+    assert_eq!(data.len(), 32 * 1024);
+
+    let ret: String = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT ?")
+        .bind(&data)
+        .fetch_one(&mut conn)
+        .await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(ret, data);
+
+    conn.shrink_buffers();
+
+    let ret: i64 = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT ?")
+        .bind(&12345678i64)
+        .fetch_one(&mut conn)
+        .await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(ret, 12345678i64);
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/tests/postgres/postgres.rs b/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
index 68650a10c8..7bee4d86ac 100644
--- a/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
+++ b/tests/postgres/postgres.rs
@@ -1789,3 +1789,33 @@ async fn test_postgres_bytea_hex_deserialization_errors() -> anyhow::Result<()>
     }
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[sqlx_macros::test]
+async fn test_shrink_buffers() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    // We don't really have a good way to test that `.shrink_buffers()` functions as expected
+    // without exposing a lot of internals, but we can at least be sure it doesn't
+    // materially affect the operation of the connection.
+
+    let mut conn = new::<Postgres>().await?;
+
+    // The connection buffer is only 8 KiB by default so this should definitely force it to grow.
+    let data = vec![0u8; 32 * 1024];
+
+    let ret: Vec<u8> = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT $1::bytea")
+        .bind(&data)
+        .fetch_one(&mut conn)
+        .await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(ret, data);
+
+    conn.shrink_buffers();
+
+    let ret: i64 = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT $1::int8")
+        .bind(&12345678i64)
+        .fetch_one(&mut conn)
+        .await?;
+
+    assert_eq!(ret, 12345678i64);
+
+    Ok(())
+}