diff --git a/go/base/context.go b/go/base/context.go
index 06a1c15..23fe6f6 100644
--- a/go/base/context.go
+++ b/go/base/context.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/satori/go.uuid"
+
 	"github.com/github/gh-ost/go/mysql"
 	"github.com/github/gh-ost/go/sql"
 
@@ -71,6 +73,8 @@ func NewThrottleCheckResult(throttle bool, reason string, reasonHint ThrottleRea
 // MigrationContext has the general, global state of migration. It is used by
 // all components throughout the migration process.
 type MigrationContext struct {
+	Uuid string
+
 	DatabaseName      string
 	OriginalTableName string
 	AlterStatement    string
@@ -212,6 +216,7 @@ type ContextConfig struct {
 
 func NewMigrationContext() *MigrationContext {
 	return &MigrationContext{
+		Uuid:                                uuid.NewV4().String(),
 		defaultNumRetries:                   60,
 		ChunkSize:                           1000,
 		InspectorConnectionConfig:           mysql.NewConnectionConfig(),
diff --git a/go/binlog/gomysql_reader.go b/go/binlog/gomysql_reader.go
index cb6d2b7..6016f81 100644
--- a/go/binlog/gomysql_reader.go
+++ b/go/binlog/gomysql_reader.go
@@ -158,10 +158,6 @@ func (this *GoMySQLReader) StreamEvents(canStopStreaming func() bool, entriesCha
 }
 
 func (this *GoMySQLReader) Close() error {
-	// Historically there was a:
-	//   this.binlogSyncer.Close()
-	// here. A new go-mysql version closes the binlog syncer connection independently.
-	// I will go against the sacred rules of comments and just leave this here.
-	// This is the year 2017. Let's see what year these comments get deleted.
+	this.binlogSyncer.Close()
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/go/logic/applier.go b/go/logic/applier.go
index 7e9b204..227b59e 100644
--- a/go/logic/applier.go
+++ b/go/logic/applier.go
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@ func NewApplier(migrationContext *base.MigrationContext) *Applier {
 }
 
 func (this *Applier) InitDBConnections() (err error) {
+
 	applierUri := this.connectionConfig.GetDBUri(this.migrationContext.DatabaseName)
-	if this.db, err = mysql.GetDB(applierUri); err != nil {
+	if this.db, _, err = mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, applierUri); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	singletonApplierUri := fmt.Sprintf("%s?timeout=0", applierUri)
-	if this.singletonDB, err = mysql.GetDB(singletonApplierUri); err != nil {
+	if this.singletonDB, _, err = mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, singletonApplierUri); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	this.singletonDB.SetMaxOpenConns(1)
diff --git a/go/logic/inspect.go b/go/logic/inspect.go
index cdefb80..31c81dc 100644
--- a/go/logic/inspect.go
+++ b/go/logic/inspect.go
@@ -41,12 +41,12 @@ func NewInspector(migrationContext *base.MigrationContext) *Inspector {
 
 func (this *Inspector) InitDBConnections() (err error) {
 	inspectorUri := this.connectionConfig.GetDBUri(this.migrationContext.DatabaseName)
-	if this.db, err = mysql.GetDB(inspectorUri); err != nil {
+	if this.db, _, err = mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, inspectorUri); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	informationSchemaUri := this.connectionConfig.GetDBUri("information_schema")
-	if this.informationSchemaDb, err = mysql.GetDB(informationSchemaUri); err != nil {
+	if this.informationSchemaDb, _, err = mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, informationSchemaUri); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/go/logic/streamer.go b/go/logic/streamer.go
index 4f11a3d..37e7195 100644
--- a/go/logic/streamer.go
+++ b/go/logic/streamer.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func (this *EventsStreamer) notifyListeners(binlogEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent)
 
 func (this *EventsStreamer) InitDBConnections() (err error) {
 	EventsStreamerUri := this.connectionConfig.GetDBUri(this.migrationContext.DatabaseName)
-	if this.db, err = mysql.GetDB(EventsStreamerUri); err != nil {
+	if this.db, _, err = mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, EventsStreamerUri); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if _, err := base.ValidateConnection(this.db, this.connectionConfig); err != nil {
diff --git a/go/logic/throttler.go b/go/logic/throttler.go
index efc1a4d..624956a 100644
--- a/go/logic/throttler.go
+++ b/go/logic/throttler.go
@@ -41,16 +41,18 @@ const frenoMagicHint = "freno"
 // Throttler collects metrics related to throttling and makes informed decision
 // whether throttling should take place.
 type Throttler struct {
-	migrationContext *base.MigrationContext
-	applier          *Applier
-	inspector        *Inspector
+	migrationContext  *base.MigrationContext
+	applier           *Applier
+	inspector         *Inspector
+	finishedMigrating int64
 }
 
 func NewThrottler(migrationContext *base.MigrationContext, applier *Applier, inspector *Inspector) *Throttler {
 	return &Throttler{
-		migrationContext: migrationContext,
-		applier:          applier,
-		inspector:        inspector,
+		migrationContext:  migrationContext,
+		applier:           applier,
+		inspector:         inspector,
+		finishedMigrating: 0,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -159,6 +161,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectReplicationLag(firstThrottlingCollected chan<- boo
 
 	ticker := time.Tick(time.Duration(this.migrationContext.HeartbeatIntervalMilliseconds) * time.Millisecond)
 	for range ticker {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.finishedMigrating) > 0 {
+			return
+		}
 		go collectFunc()
 	}
 }
@@ -181,7 +186,7 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectControlReplicasLag() {
 		dbUri := connectionConfig.GetDBUri("information_schema")
 
 		var heartbeatValue string
-		if db, err := mysql.GetDB(dbUri); err != nil {
+		if db, _, err := mysql.GetDB(this.migrationContext.Uuid, dbUri); err != nil {
 			return lag, err
 		} else if err = db.QueryRow(replicationLagQuery).Scan(&heartbeatValue); err != nil {
 			return lag, err
@@ -233,6 +238,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectControlReplicasLag() {
 	shouldReadLagAggressively := false
 
 	for range aggressiveTicker {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.finishedMigrating) > 0 {
+			return
+		}
 		if counter%relaxedFactor == 0 {
 			// we only check if we wish to be aggressive once per second. The parameters for being aggressive
 			// do not typically change at all throughout the migration, but nonetheless we check them.
@@ -285,6 +293,10 @@ func (this *Throttler) collectThrottleHTTPStatus(firstThrottlingCollected chan<-
 
 	ticker := time.Tick(100 * time.Millisecond)
 	for range ticker {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.finishedMigrating) > 0 {
+			return
+		}
+
 		if sleep, _ := collectFunc(); sleep {
 			time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
 		}
@@ -393,6 +405,10 @@ func (this *Throttler) initiateThrottlerCollection(firstThrottlingCollected chan
 
 		throttlerMetricsTick := time.Tick(1 * time.Second)
 		for range throttlerMetricsTick {
+			if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.finishedMigrating) > 0 {
+				return
+			}
+
 			this.collectGeneralThrottleMetrics()
 		}
 	}()
@@ -419,6 +435,9 @@ func (this *Throttler) initiateThrottlerChecks() error {
 	}
 	throttlerFunction()
 	for range throttlerTick {
+		if atomic.LoadInt64(&this.finishedMigrating) > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
 		throttlerFunction()
 	}
 
@@ -440,3 +459,8 @@ func (this *Throttler) throttle(onThrottled func()) {
 		time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
 	}
 }
+
+func (this *Throttler) Teardown() {
+	log.Debugf("Tearing down...")
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&this.finishedMigrating, 1)
+}
diff --git a/go/mysql/utils.go b/go/mysql/utils.go
index 28e2ec1..532cbb4 100644
--- a/go/mysql/utils.go
+++ b/go/mysql/utils.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package mysql
 import (
 	gosql "database/sql"
 	"fmt"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/github/gh-ost/go/sql"
@@ -33,13 +34,27 @@ func (this *ReplicationLagResult) HasLag() bool {
 	return this.Lag > 0
 }
 
-func GetDB(mysql_uri string) (*gosql.DB, error) {
-	db, err := gosql.Open("mysql", mysql_uri)
-	if err == nil {
-		return db, nil
-	} else {
-		return nil, err
+// knownDBs is a DB cache by uri
+var knownDBs map[string]*gosql.DB = make(map[string]*gosql.DB)
+var knownDBsMutex = &sync.Mutex{}
+
+func GetDB(migrationUuid string, mysql_uri string) (*gosql.DB, bool, error) {
+	cacheKey := migrationUuid + ":" + mysql_uri
+
+	knownDBsMutex.Lock()
+	defer func() {
+		knownDBsMutex.Unlock()
+	}()
+
+	var exists bool
+	if _, exists = knownDBs[cacheKey]; !exists {
+		if db, err := gosql.Open("mysql", mysql_uri); err == nil {
+			knownDBs[cacheKey] = db
+		} else {
+			return db, exists, err
+		}
 	}
+	return knownDBs[cacheKey], exists, nil
 }
 
 // GetReplicationLag returns replication lag for a given connection config; either by explicit query
@@ -62,7 +77,10 @@ func GetReplicationLag(informationSchemaDb *gosql.DB, connectionConfig *Connecti
 func GetMasterKeyFromSlaveStatus(connectionConfig *ConnectionConfig) (masterKey *InstanceKey, err error) {
 	currentUri := connectionConfig.GetDBUri("information_schema")
 	// This function is only called once, okay to not have a cached connection pool
-	db, err := GetDB(currentUri)
+	db, err := gosql.Open("mysql", currentUri)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	defer db.Close()
 
 	if err != nil {