diff --git a/playhouse/pool.py b/playhouse/pool.py
index 2ee3b486f..db4248c8d 100644
--- a/playhouse/pool.py
+++ b/playhouse/pool.py
@@ -31,9 +31,11 @@ class Meta:
 
 That's it!
 """
+import functools
 import heapq
 import logging
 import random
+import threading
 import time
 from collections import namedtuple
 from itertools import chain
@@ -67,6 +69,14 @@ class MaxConnectionsExceeded(ValueError): pass
                                                'checked_out'))
 
 
+def locked(fn):
+    @functools.wraps(fn)
+    def inner(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        with self._pool_lock:
+            return fn(self, *args, **kwargs)
+    return inner
+
+
 class PooledDatabase(object):
     def __init__(self, database, max_connections=20, stale_timeout=None,
                  timeout=None, **kwargs):
@@ -76,6 +86,8 @@ def __init__(self, database, max_connections=20, stale_timeout=None,
         if self._wait_timeout == 0:
             self._wait_timeout = float('inf')
 
+        self._pool_lock = threading.RLock()
+
         # Available / idle connections stored in a heap, sorted oldest first.
         self._connections = []
 
@@ -119,6 +131,7 @@ def connect(self, reuse_if_open=False):
         raise MaxConnectionsExceeded('Max connections exceeded, timed out '
                                      'attempting to connect.')
 
+    @locked
     def _connect(self):
         while True:
             try:
@@ -154,7 +167,7 @@ def _connect(self):
                     len(self._in_use) >= self._max_connections):
                 raise MaxConnectionsExceeded('Exceeded maximum connections.')
             conn = super(PooledDatabase, self)._connect()
-            ts = time.time() - random.random() / 1000
+            ts = time.time()
             key = self.conn_key(conn)
             logger.debug('Created new connection %s.', key)
 
@@ -173,6 +186,7 @@ def _can_reuse(self, conn):
         # Called on check-in to make sure the connection can be re-used.
         return True
 
+    @locked
     def _close(self, conn, close_conn=False):
         key = self.conn_key(conn)
         if close_conn:
@@ -188,6 +202,7 @@ def _close(self, conn, close_conn=False):
             else:
                 logger.debug('Closed %s.', key)
 
+    @locked
     def manual_close(self):
         """
         Close the underlying connection without returning it to the pool.
@@ -206,40 +221,40 @@ def manual_close(self):
         self.close()
         self._close(conn, close_conn=True)
 
+    @locked
     def close_idle(self):
         # Close any open connections that are not currently in-use.
-        with self._lock:
-            for _, conn in self._connections:
-                self._close(conn, close_conn=True)
-            self._connections = []
+        for _, conn in self._connections:
+            self._close(conn, close_conn=True)
+        self._connections = []
 
+    @locked
     def close_stale(self, age=600):
         # Close any connections that are in-use but were checked out quite some
         # time ago and can be considered stale.
-        with self._lock:
-            in_use = {}
-            cutoff = time.time() - age
-            n = 0
-            for key, pool_conn in self._in_use.items():
-                if pool_conn.checked_out < cutoff:
-                    self._close(pool_conn.connection, close_conn=True)
-                    n += 1
-                else:
-                    in_use[key] = pool_conn
-            self._in_use = in_use
+        in_use = {}
+        cutoff = time.time() - age
+        n = 0
+        for key, pool_conn in self._in_use.items():
+            if pool_conn.checked_out < cutoff:
+                self._close(pool_conn.connection, close_conn=True)
+                n += 1
+            else:
+                in_use[key] = pool_conn
+        self._in_use = in_use
         return n
 
+    @locked
     def close_all(self):
         # Close all connections -- available and in-use. Warning: may break any
         # active connections used by other threads.
         self.close()
-        with self._lock:
-            for _, conn in self._connections:
-                self._close(conn, close_conn=True)
-            for pool_conn in self._in_use.values():
-                self._close(pool_conn.connection, close_conn=True)
-            self._connections = []
-            self._in_use = {}
+        for _, conn in self._connections:
+            self._close(conn, close_conn=True)
+        for pool_conn in self._in_use.values():
+            self._close(pool_conn.connection, close_conn=True)
+        self._connections = []
+        self._in_use = {}
 
 
 class PooledMySQLDatabase(PooledDatabase, MySQLDatabase):