diff --git a/apps/api/src/migrate.js b/apps/api/src/migrate.js
index f8d9bf7..8694139 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/migrate.js
+++ b/apps/api/src/migrate.js
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const MIGRATIONS_DIR = path.join(__dirname, '../migrations');
 
-async function connectWithRetry(client, maxAttempts = 12) {
+async function connectWithRetry(connStr, maxAttempts = 12) {
   for (let i = 1; i <= maxAttempts; i++) {
+    const client = new pg.Client({ connectionString: connStr });
     try {
       await client.connect();
-      return;
+      return client;
     } catch (err) {
+      await client.end().catch(() => {});
       if (i === maxAttempts) throw err;
       const delay = Math.min(2000 * i, 30000);
       console.log(`[migrate] DB not ready (attempt ${i}/${maxAttempts}), retry in ${delay}ms — ${err.message}`);
@@ -20,10 +22,8 @@ async function connectWithRetry(client, maxAttempts = 12) {
   }
 }
 
-const client = new pg.Client({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
-
 async function run() {
-  await connectWithRetry(client);
+  const client = await connectWithRetry(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
 
   await client.query(`
     CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS schema_migrations (