diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/connection.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/connection.go
index cdb5720596e..dbc235a8218 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/connection.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/connection.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package smartconnpool
 import (
 	"context"
 	"sync/atomic"
-	"time"
 )
 
 type Connection interface {
@@ -33,8 +32,8 @@ type Connection interface {
 
 type Pooled[C Connection] struct {
 	next        atomic.Pointer[Pooled[C]]
-	timeCreated time.Time
-	timeUsed    time.Time
+	timeCreated timestamp
+	timeUsed    timestamp
 	pool        *ConnPool[C]
 
 	Conn C
diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
index 52346adb1a4..87a288bec3d 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package smartconnpool
 import (
 	"context"
 	"math/rand/v2"
-	"slices"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -408,13 +407,13 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) put(conn *Pooled[C]) {
 			return
 		}
 	} else {
-		conn.timeUsed = time.Now()
+		conn.timeUsed.update()
 
 		lifetime := pool.extendedMaxLifetime()
-		if lifetime > 0 && time.Until(conn.timeCreated.Add(lifetime)) < 0 {
+		if lifetime > 0 && conn.timeCreated.elapsed() > lifetime {
 			pool.Metrics.maxLifetimeClosed.Add(1)
 			conn.Close()
-			if err := pool.connReopen(context.Background(), conn, conn.timeUsed); err != nil {
+			if err := pool.connReopen(context.Background(), conn, conn.timeUsed.get()); err != nil {
 				pool.closedConn()
 				return
 			}
@@ -442,12 +441,30 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) tryReturnConn(conn *Pooled[C]) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (pool *ConnPool[C]) pop(stack *connStack[C]) *Pooled[C] {
+	// retry-loop: pop a connection from the stack and atomically check whether
+	// its timeout has elapsed. If the timeout has elapsed, the borrow will fail,
+	// which means that a background worker has already marked this connection
+	// as stale and is in the process of shutting it down. If we successfully mark
+	// the timeout as borrowed, we know that background workers will not be able
+	// to expire this connection (even if it's still visible to them), so it's
+	// safe to return it
+	for conn, ok := stack.Pop(); ok; conn, ok = stack.Pop() {
+		if conn.timeUsed.borrow() {
+			return conn
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (pool *ConnPool[C]) tryReturnAnyConn() bool {
-	if conn, ok := pool.clean.Pop(); ok {
+	if conn := pool.pop(&pool.clean); conn != nil {
+		conn.timeUsed.update()
 		return pool.tryReturnConn(conn)
 	}
 	for u := 0; u <= stackMask; u++ {
-		if conn, ok := pool.settings[u].Pop(); ok {
+		if conn := pool.pop(&pool.settings[u]); conn != nil {
+			conn.timeUsed.update()
 			return pool.tryReturnConn(conn)
 		}
 	}
@@ -479,15 +496,15 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[D]) extendedMaxLifetime() time.Duration {
 	return time.Duration(maxLifetime) + time.Duration(rand.Uint32N(uint32(maxLifetime)))
 }
 
-func (pool *ConnPool[C]) connReopen(ctx context.Context, dbconn *Pooled[C], now time.Time) error {
+func (pool *ConnPool[C]) connReopen(ctx context.Context, dbconn *Pooled[C], now time.Duration) error {
 	var err error
 	dbconn.Conn, err = pool.config.connect(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	dbconn.timeUsed = now
-	dbconn.timeCreated = now
+	dbconn.timeUsed.set(now)
+	dbconn.timeCreated.set(now)
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -496,13 +513,14 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) connNew(ctx context.Context) (*Pooled[C], error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	now := time.Now()
-	return &Pooled[C]{
-		timeCreated: now,
-		timeUsed:    now,
-		pool:        pool,
-		Conn:        conn,
-	}, nil
+	pooled := &Pooled[C]{
+		pool: pool,
+		Conn: conn,
+	}
+	now := monotonicNow()
+	pooled.timeUsed.set(now)
+	pooled.timeCreated.set(now)
+	return pooled, nil
 }
 
 func (pool *ConnPool[C]) getFromSettingsStack(setting *Setting) *Pooled[C] {
@@ -515,7 +533,7 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) getFromSettingsStack(setting *Setting) *Pooled[C] {
 
 	for i := uint32(0); i <= stackMask; i++ {
 		pos := (i + start) & stackMask
-		if conn, ok := pool.settings[pos].Pop(); ok {
+		if conn := pool.pop(&pool.settings[pos]); conn != nil {
 			return conn
 		}
 	}
@@ -549,7 +567,7 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) get(ctx context.Context) (*Pooled[C], error) {
 	pool.Metrics.getCount.Add(1)
 
 	// best case: if there's a connection in the clean stack, return it right away
-	if conn, ok := pool.clean.Pop(); ok {
+	if conn := pool.pop(&pool.clean); conn != nil {
 		pool.borrowed.Add(1)
 		return conn, nil
 	}
@@ -585,7 +603,7 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) get(ctx context.Context) (*Pooled[C], error) {
 		err = conn.Conn.ResetSetting(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			conn.Close()
-			err = pool.connReopen(ctx, conn, time.Now())
+			err = pool.connReopen(ctx, conn, monotonicNow())
 			if err != nil {
 				pool.closedConn()
 				return nil, err
@@ -603,10 +621,10 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) getWithSetting(ctx context.Context, setting *Setting) (
 
 	var err error
 	// best case: check if there's a connection in the setting stack where our Setting belongs
-	conn, _ := pool.settings[setting.bucket&stackMask].Pop()
+	conn := pool.pop(&pool.settings[setting.bucket&stackMask])
 	// if there's connection with our setting, try popping a clean connection
 	if conn == nil {
-		conn, _ = pool.clean.Pop()
+		conn = pool.pop(&pool.clean)
 	}
 	// otherwise try opening a brand new connection and we'll apply the setting to it
 	if conn == nil {
@@ -645,7 +663,7 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) getWithSetting(ctx context.Context, setting *Setting) (
 			err = conn.Conn.ResetSetting(ctx)
 			if err != nil {
 				conn.Close()
-				err = pool.connReopen(ctx, conn, time.Now())
+				err = pool.connReopen(ctx, conn, monotonicNow())
 				if err != nil {
 					pool.closedConn()
 					return nil, err
@@ -710,7 +728,7 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) setCapacity(ctx context.Context, newcap int64) error {
 		// try closing from connections which are currently idle in the stacks
 		conn := pool.getFromSettingsStack(nil)
 		if conn == nil {
-			conn, _ = pool.clean.Pop()
+			conn = pool.pop(&pool.clean)
 		}
 		if conn == nil {
 			time.Sleep(delay)
@@ -732,21 +750,22 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) closeIdleResources(now time.Time) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	var conns []*Pooled[C]
+	mono := monotonicFromTime(now)
 
 	closeInStack := func(s *connStack[C]) {
-		conns = s.PopAll(conns[:0])
-		slices.Reverse(conns)
-
-		for _, conn := range conns {
-			if conn.timeUsed.Add(timeout).Sub(now) < 0 {
+		// Do a read-only best effort iteration of all the connection in this
+		// stack and atomically attempt to mark them as expired.
+		// Any connections that are marked as expired are _not_ removed from
+		// the stack; it's generally unsafe to remove nodes from the stack
+		// besides the head. When clients pop from the stack, they'll immediately
+		// notice the expired connection and ignore it.
+		// see: timestamp.expired
+		for conn := s.Peek(); conn != nil; conn = conn.next.Load() {
+			if conn.timeUsed.expired(mono, timeout) {
 				pool.Metrics.idleClosed.Add(1)
 				conn.Close()
 				pool.closedConn()
-				continue
 			}
-
-			s.Push(conn)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
index 2ac3d1b00e3..202261e6f3b 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
@@ -619,8 +619,14 @@ func TestIdleTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 			p.put(conn)
 		}
 
+		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+
 		for _, closed := range closers {
-			<-closed
+			select {
+			case <-closed:
+			default:
+				t.Fatalf("Connections remain open after 1 second")
+			}
 		}
 
 		// no need to assert anything: all the connections in the pool should are idle-closed
diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/stack.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/stack.go
index ea7ae50201e..8d656ee4e8d 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/stack.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/stack.go
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ import (
 // connStack is a lock-free stack for Connection objects. It is safe to
 // use from several goroutines.
 type connStack[C Connection] struct {
+	// top is a pointer to the top node on the stack and to an increasing
+	// counter of pop operations, to prevent A-B-A races.
+	// See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABA_problem
 	top atomic2.PointerAndUint64[Pooled[C]]
 }
 
@@ -54,24 +57,7 @@ func (s *connStack[C]) Pop() (*Pooled[C], bool) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *connStack[C]) PopAll(out []*Pooled[C]) []*Pooled[C] {
-	var oldHead *Pooled[C]
-
-	for {
-		var popCount uint64
-		oldHead, popCount = s.top.Load()
-		if oldHead == nil {
-			return out
-		}
-		if s.top.CompareAndSwap(oldHead, popCount, nil, popCount+1) {
-			break
-		}
-		runtime.Gosched()
-	}
-
-	for oldHead != nil {
-		out = append(out, oldHead)
-		oldHead = oldHead.next.Load()
-	}
-	return out
+func (s *connStack[C]) Peek() *Pooled[C] {
+	top, _ := s.top.Load()
+	return top
 }
diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/timestamp.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/timestamp.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..961ff18a5c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/timestamp.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package smartconnpool
+
+import (
+	"math"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var monotonicRoot = time.Now()
+
+// timestamp is a monotonic point in time, stored as a number of
+// nanoseconds since the monotonic root. This type is only 8 bytes
+// and hence can always be accessed atomically
+type timestamp struct {
+	nano atomic.Int64
+}
+
+// timestampExpired is a special value that means this timestamp is now past
+// an arbitrary expiration point, and hence doesn't need to store
+const timestampExpired = math.MaxInt64
+
+// timestampBusy is a special value that means this timestamp no longer
+// tracks an expiration point
+const timestampBusy = math.MinInt64
+
+// monotonicNow returns the current monotonic time as a time.Duration.
+// This is a very efficient operation because time.Since performs direct
+// substraction of monotonic times without considering the wall clock times.
+func monotonicNow() time.Duration {
+	return time.Since(monotonicRoot)
+}
+
+// monotonicFromTime converts a wall-clock time from time.Now into a
+// monotonic timestamp.
+// This is a very efficient operation because time.(*Time).Sub performs direct
+// substraction of monotonic times without considering the wall clock times.
+func monotonicFromTime(now time.Time) time.Duration {
+	return now.Sub(monotonicRoot)
+}
+
+// set sets this timestamp to the given monotonic value
+func (t *timestamp) set(mono time.Duration) {
+	t.nano.Store(int64(mono))
+}
+
+// get returns the monotonic time of this timestamp as the number of nanoseconds
+// since the monotonic root.
+func (t *timestamp) get() time.Duration {
+	return time.Duration(t.nano.Load())
+}
+
+// elapsed returns the number of nanoseconds that have passed since
+// this timestamp was updated
+func (t *timestamp) elapsed() time.Duration {
+	return monotonicNow() - t.get()
+}
+
+// update sets this timestamp's value to the current monotonic time
+func (t *timestamp) update() {
+	t.nano.Store(int64(monotonicNow()))
+}
+
+// borrow attempts to borrow this timestamp atomically.
+// It only succeeds if we can ensure that nobody else has marked
+// this timestamp as expired. When succeeded, the timestamp
+// is cleared as "busy" as it no longer tracks an expiration point.
+func (t *timestamp) borrow() bool {
+	stamp := t.nano.Load()
+	switch stamp {
+	case timestampExpired:
+		return false
+	case timestampBusy:
+		panic("timestampBusy when borrowing a time")
+	default:
+		return t.nano.CompareAndSwap(stamp, timestampBusy)
+	}
+}
+
+// expired attempts to atomically expire this timestamp.
+// It only succeeds if we can ensure the timestamp hasn't been
+// concurrently expired or borrowed.
+func (t *timestamp) expired(now time.Duration, timeout time.Duration) bool {
+	stamp := t.nano.Load()
+	if stamp == timestampExpired {
+		return false
+	}
+	if stamp == timestampBusy {
+		return false
+	}
+	if now-time.Duration(stamp) > timeout {
+		return t.nano.CompareAndSwap(stamp, timestampExpired)
+	}
+	return false
+}