diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 9a0f789308..fd22412fa2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -952,9 +952,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-utils"
-version = "0.8.19"
+version = "0.8.20"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "248e3bacc7dc6baa3b21e405ee045c3047101a49145e7e9eca583ab4c2ca5345"
+checksum = "22ec99545bb0ed0ea7bb9b8e1e9122ea386ff8a48c0922e43f36d45ab09e0e80"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crossterm"
@@ -1309,6 +1309,7 @@ checksum = "55ac459de2512911e4b674ce33cf20befaba382d05b62b008afc1c8b57cbf181"
 dependencies = [
  "futures-core",
  "futures-sink",
+    "nanorand",
  "spin 0.9.8",
 ]
 
@@ -1499,8 +1500,10 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "190092ea657667030ac6a35e305e62fc4dd69fd98ac98631e5d3a2b1575a12b5"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
+    "js-sys",
  "libc",
  "wasi",
+    "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2036,6 +2039,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.109",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nanorand"
+version = "0.7.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6a51313c5820b0b02bd422f4b44776fbf47961755c74ce64afc73bfad10226c3"
+dependencies = [
+    "getrandom",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "native-tls"
 version = "0.2.11"
@@ -2249,9 +2261,9 @@ checksum = "bb813b8af86854136c6922af0598d719255ecb2179515e6e7730d468f05c9cae"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot"
-version = "0.12.1"
+version = "0.12.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3742b2c103b9f06bc9fff0a37ff4912935851bee6d36f3c02bcc755bcfec228f"
+checksum = "f1bf18183cf54e8d6059647fc3063646a1801cf30896933ec2311622cc4b9a27"
 dependencies = [
  "lock_api",
  "parking_lot_core",
@@ -3252,11 +3264,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytes",
  "chrono",
  "crc",
+    "criterion",
  "crossbeam-queue",
+    "crossbeam-utils",
  "digest",
  "either",
  "encoding_rs",
  "event-listener 5.2.0",
+    "flume",
  "futures-channel",
  "futures-core",
  "futures-intrusive",
diff --git a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
index f19c1a1e0d..39f764b3d9 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sqlx-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ byteorder = { version = "1.4.3", default-features = false, features = ["std"] }
 chrono = { version = "0.4.34", default-features = false, features = ["clock"], optional = true }
 crc = { version = "3", optional = true }
 crossbeam-queue = "0.3.2"
+crossbeam-utils = "0.8.20"
 digest = { version = "0.10.0", default-features = false, optional = true, features = ["std"] }
 encoding_rs = { version = "0.8.30", optional = true }
 either = "1.6.1"
@@ -91,4 +92,12 @@ hashbrown = "0.14.5"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 sqlx = { workspace = true, features = ["postgres", "sqlite", "mysql", "migrate", "macros", "time", "uuid"] }
-tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt"] }
+async-std = { workspace = true, features = ["attributes"] }
+tokio = { workspace = true, features = ["rt", "rt-multi-thread", "macros"] }
+criterion = { version = "0.5.1", features = ["async_tokio"] }
+flume = "0.11.0"
+
+[[bench]]
+name = "channels"
+harness = false
+required-features = ["_rt-tokio"]
diff --git a/sqlx-core/benches/channels.rs b/sqlx-core/benches/channels.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a1e563062c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sqlx-core/benches/channels.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+use criterion::{Bencher, BenchmarkId, Criterion, criterion_group, criterion_main, Throughput};
+
+fn bench_spsc(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let mut group = c.benchmark_group("bench_spsc(threaded, count, capacity)");
+
+    for threaded in [false, true] {
+        for count in [100u64, 1000, 10_000] {
+            group.throughput(Throughput::Bytes(size_of::<u64>() as u64 * count));
+
+            for capacity in [16usize, 64, 256] {
+                group.bench_with_input(
+                    BenchmarkId::from_parameter(
+                        format!("tokio::sync::mpsc({threaded}, {count}, {capacity})")
+                    ),
+                    &(threaded, count, capacity),
+                    bench_spsc_tokio,
+                );
+
+                group.bench_with_input(
+                    BenchmarkId::from_parameter(
+                        format!("flume({threaded}, {count}, {capacity})")
+                    ),
+                    &(threaded, count, capacity),
+                    bench_spsc_flume,
+                );
+
+                group.bench_with_input(
+                    BenchmarkId::from_parameter(
+                        format!("double_buffer({threaded}, {count}, {capacity})")
+                    ),
+                    &(threaded, count, capacity),
+                    bench_spsc_double_buffer,
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    group.finish();
+}
+
+fn bench_spsc_tokio(bencher: &mut Bencher, &(threaded, count, capacity): &(bool, u64, usize)) {
+    bencher.to_async(build_spsc_runtime(threaded)).iter(|| async {
+        let (mut tx, mut rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel(capacity);
+
+        tokio::try_join!(
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for i in 0 .. count {
+                    tx.send(i).await.expect("BUG: channel closed early");
+                }
+            }),
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for expected in 0 .. count {
+                    assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, Some(expected));
+                }
+
+                assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, None);
+            })
+        ).unwrap();
+    });
+}
+
+fn bench_spsc_flume(bencher: &mut Bencher, &(threaded, count, capacity): &(bool, u64, usize)) {
+    bencher.to_async(build_spsc_runtime(threaded)).iter(|| async {
+        let (mut tx, mut rx) = flume::bounded(capacity);
+
+        tokio::try_join!(
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for i in 0 .. count {
+                    tx.send_async(i).await.expect("BUG: channel closed early");
+                }
+            }),
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for expected in 0 .. count {
+                    assert_eq!(rx.recv_async().await, Ok(expected));
+                }
+
+                assert_eq!(rx.recv_async().await.ok(), None);
+            })
+        ).unwrap();
+    });
+}
+
+fn bench_spsc_double_buffer(bencher: &mut Bencher, &(threaded, count, capacity): &(bool, u64, usize)) {
+    bencher.to_async(build_spsc_runtime(threaded)).iter(|| async {
+        let (mut tx, mut rx) = sqlx_core::common::channel::double_buffer::channel(capacity);
+
+        tokio::try_join!(
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for i in 0 .. count {
+                    tx.send(i).await.expect("BUG: channel closed early");
+                }
+            }),
+            tokio::spawn(async move {
+                for expected in 0 .. count {
+                    assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, Some(expected));
+                }
+
+                assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, None);
+            })
+        ).unwrap();
+    });
+}
+
+fn build_spsc_runtime(threaded: bool) -> tokio::runtime::Runtime {
+    let mut builder = if threaded {
+        let mut builder = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread();
+        builder.worker_threads(2);
+        builder
+    } else {
+        tokio::runtime::Builder::new_current_thread()
+    };
+
+    builder
+        .enable_all()
+        .build()
+        .unwrap()
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, bench_spsc);
+criterion_main!(benches);
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/double_buffer.rs b/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/double_buffer.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d2021ab384
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/double_buffer.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,357 @@
+use std::collections::VecDeque;
+use std::mem;
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, MutexGuard};
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+use std::task::Poll;
+
+use futures_util::task::AtomicWaker;
+
+pub struct Sender<T> {
+    shared: Arc<BufferShared<T>>,
+    buffer: BufferOption<T>,
+}
+
+pub struct Receiver<T> {
+    shared: Arc<BufferShared<T>>,
+    buffer: BufferOption<T>,
+}
+
+struct BufferShared<T> {
+    header: Header,
+    // Instead of writing to buffers in shared memory, which would require up to
+    // 128 bytes of padding to prevent false sharing, the sender and receiver each take
+    // exclusive ownership of the buffer they're currently accessing.
+    //
+    // This way, contended access to shared memory only happens when it's time for a buffer swap.
+    front: Mutex<Option<VecDeque<T>>>,
+    back: Mutex<Option<VecDeque<T>>>,
+}
+
+enum BufferOption<T> {
+    Wants(SelectedBuffer),
+    HasFront(VecDeque<T>),
+    HasBack(VecDeque<T>),
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Header {
+    sender_waiting: AtomicWaker,
+    receiver_waiting: AtomicWaker,
+
+    closed: AtomicBool,
+
+    front_flushed: AtomicBool,
+    back_flushed: AtomicBool,
+}
+
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
+enum SelectedBuffer {
+    Front,
+    Back,
+}
+
+pub fn channel<T>(capacity: usize) -> (Sender<T>, Receiver<T>) {
+    let buffer_capacity = capacity / 2;
+    assert_ne!(buffer_capacity, 0, "capacity / 2 must not be zero");
+
+    // Sender starts out owning the front buffer,
+    // receiver starts out _wanting_ the front buffer.
+    let shared = Arc::new(BufferShared {
+        header: Header {
+            closed: AtomicBool::new(false),
+            front_flushed: AtomicBool::new(false),
+            back_flushed: AtomicBool::new(false),
+            sender_waiting: AtomicWaker::new(),
+            receiver_waiting: AtomicWaker::new(),
+        },
+        front: Mutex::new(None),
+        back: Mutex::new(Some(VecDeque::with_capacity(buffer_capacity))),
+    });
+
+    (
+        Sender {
+            shared: shared.clone(),
+            buffer: BufferOption::HasFront(VecDeque::with_capacity(buffer_capacity)),
+        },
+        Receiver {
+            shared: shared.clone(),
+            buffer: BufferOption::Wants(SelectedBuffer::Front),
+        }
+    )
+}
+
+impl<T> Sender<T> {
+    /// Flush the current buffer and wake the reader.
+    fn flush_buffer(&mut self) {
+        let selected = self.buffer.as_selected();
+
+        let Some(buf) = mem::replace(&mut self.buffer, BufferOption::Wants(selected.next()))
+            .into_buf() else {
+            return;
+        };
+
+        self.shared.put_buffer(selected, buf);
+
+        self.shared.header.flushed_status(selected)
+            .store(true, Ordering::Release);
+
+        self.shared.header.receiver_waiting.wake();
+    }
+
+    pub async fn send(&mut self, val: T) -> Result<(), T> {
+        loop {
+            if self.shared.header.is_closed() {
+                return Err(val);
+            }
+
+            let selected = self.buffer.as_selected();
+            let flushed_status = self.shared.header.flushed_status(selected);
+
+            if let Some(buf) = self.buffer.get_mut() {
+                buf.push_back(val);
+
+                if buf.len() == buf.capacity() {
+                    // Advances to the next buffer.
+                    self.flush_buffer();
+                }
+
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+
+            let res = std::future::poll_fn(|cx| {
+                self.shared.header.sender_waiting.register(cx.waker());
+
+                if self.shared.header.is_closed() {
+                    return Poll::Ready(Err(()));
+                }
+
+                if flushed_status.load(Ordering::Acquire) {
+                    return Poll::Pending
+                }
+
+                Poll::Ready(Ok(()))
+            }).await;
+
+            if let Err(()) = res {
+                return Err(val);
+            }
+
+            let buf = self.shared.take_buffer(self.buffer.as_selected());
+            self.buffer.put(buf);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Closes the channel.
+///
+/// The receiver may continue to read messages until the channel is drained.
+impl<T> Drop for Sender<T> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        self.flush_buffer();
+        self.shared.header.close();
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> Receiver<T> {
+    fn release_buffer(&mut self) {
+        let selected = self.buffer.as_selected();
+
+        let Some(buf) = mem::replace(&mut self.buffer, BufferOption::Wants(selected.next()))
+            .into_buf() else {
+            return;
+        };
+
+        self.shared.put_buffer(selected, buf);
+
+        self.shared.header.flushed_status(selected)
+            .store(false, Ordering::Release);
+
+        self.shared.header.sender_waiting.wake();
+    }
+
+
+    pub async fn recv(&mut self) -> Option<T> {
+        loop {
+            // Note: we don't check if the channel is closed until we swap buffers.
+            if let Some(buf) = self.buffer.get_mut() {
+                if let Some(val) = buf.pop_front() {
+                    if buf.is_empty() {
+                        self.release_buffer();
+                    }
+
+                    return Some(val);
+                }
+
+                // This *should* be a no-op, but it doesn't hurt to check again.
+                self.release_buffer();
+            }
+
+            let flushed_status = self.shared.header.flushed_status(self.buffer.as_selected());
+
+            std::future::poll_fn(|cx| {
+                self.shared.header.receiver_waiting.register(cx.waker());
+
+                // Sender has flushed this buffer.
+                if flushed_status.load(Ordering::Acquire) {
+                    return Poll::Ready(Some(()));
+                }
+
+                // Allow the reader to drain messages until the channel is empty.
+                if self.shared.header.is_closed() {
+                    return Poll::Ready(None);
+                }
+
+                // Waiting for the sender to write to and flush this buffer.
+                Poll::Pending
+            }).await?;
+
+            let buf = self.shared.take_buffer(self.buffer.as_selected());
+            self.buffer.put(buf);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> Drop for Receiver<T> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // Unlike
+        self.shared.header.close();
+    }
+}
+
+impl Header {
+    fn close(&self) {
+        self.closed.store(true, Ordering::Release);
+        self.sender_waiting.wake();
+        self.receiver_waiting.wake();
+    }
+
+    fn is_closed(&self) -> bool {
+        self.closed.load(Ordering::Acquire)
+    }
+
+
+    fn flushed_status(&self, buffer: SelectedBuffer) -> &AtomicBool {
+        match buffer {
+            SelectedBuffer::Front => &self.front_flushed,
+            SelectedBuffer::Back => &self.back_flushed,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> BufferShared<T> {
+    fn lock_buffer_place(&self, buffer: SelectedBuffer) -> MutexGuard<'_, Option<VecDeque<T>>> {
+        match buffer {
+            SelectedBuffer::Front => &self.front,
+            SelectedBuffer::Back => &self.back,
+        }
+            .lock()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|it| it.into_inner())
+    }
+
+    fn take_buffer(&self, selected: SelectedBuffer) -> VecDeque<T> {
+        self
+            .lock_buffer_place(selected)
+            .take()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("expected to take {selected:?}, found nothing"))
+    }
+
+    fn put_buffer(&self, selected: SelectedBuffer, buf: VecDeque<T>) {
+        let replaced = mem::replace(&mut *self.lock_buffer_place(selected), Some(buf));
+
+        if let Some(replaced) = replaced {
+            panic!("BUG: replaced buffer {selected:?} with {} elements", replaced.len());
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> BufferOption<T> {
+    fn as_selected(&self) -> SelectedBuffer {
+        match *self {
+            Self::Wants(wants) => wants,
+            Self::HasFront(_) => SelectedBuffer::Front,
+            Self::HasBack(_) => SelectedBuffer::Back,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn get_mut(&mut self) -> Option<&mut VecDeque<T>> {
+        match self {
+            Self::HasFront(front) => Some(front),
+            Self::HasBack(back) => Some(back),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn put(&mut self, buf: VecDeque<T>) {
+        match self {
+            Self::Wants(SelectedBuffer::Front) => *self = Self::HasFront(buf),
+            Self::Wants(SelectedBuffer::Back) => *self = Self::HasBack(buf),
+            Self::HasFront(front) => {
+                panic!("BUG: replacing front buffer of len {} with buffer of len {}", front.len(), buf.len());
+            }
+            Self::HasBack(back) => {
+                panic!("BUG: replacing back buffer of len {} with buffer of len {}", back.len(), buf.len());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn into_buf(self) -> Option<VecDeque<T>> {
+        match self {
+            Self::HasFront(front) => Some(front),
+            Self::HasBack(back) => Some(back),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl SelectedBuffer {
+    fn next(&self) -> Self {
+        match self {
+            Self::Front => Self::Back,
+            Self::Back => Self::Front,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+#[cfg(all(test, any(feature = "_rt-tokio", feature = "_rt-async-std")))]
+mod tests {
+    // Cannot use `#[sqlx::test]` because we want to configure the Tokio runtime to use 2 threads
+    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
+    #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
+    async fn test_double_buffer_tokio() {
+        test_double_buffer().await;
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "_rt-async-std")]
+    #[async_std::test]
+    async fn test_double_buffer_async_std() {
+        test_double_buffer().await;
+    }
+
+    async fn test_double_buffer() {
+        const CAPACITY: usize = 50;
+        const END: usize = 1000;
+
+        let (mut tx, mut rx) = super::channel::<usize>(CAPACITY);
+
+        let reader = crate::rt::spawn(async move {
+            for expected in 0usize..=END {
+                assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, Some(expected));
+            }
+
+            assert_eq!(rx.recv().await, None)
+        });
+
+        let writer = crate::rt::spawn(async move {
+            for val in 0usize..=END {
+                tx.send(val).await.expect("buffer closed prematurely")
+            }
+        });
+
+        // Our wrapper for `JoinHandle` propagates panics in both cases
+        futures_util::future::join(
+            reader,
+            writer,
+        ).await;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0db0f39b99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/common/channel/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pub mod double_buffer;
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/common/mod.rs b/sqlx-core/src/common/mod.rs
index 794007155f..cf176b6cb2 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/common/mod.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/common/mod.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+pub mod channel;
 mod statement_cache;
 
 pub use statement_cache::StatementCache;
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/sync.rs b/sqlx-core/src/sync.rs
index 27ad29c33e..2677ad62db 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/sync.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/sync.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ pub use async_std::sync::{Mutex as AsyncMutex, MutexGuard as AsyncMutexGuard};
 #[cfg(feature = "_rt-tokio")]
 pub use tokio::sync::{Mutex as AsyncMutex, MutexGuard as AsyncMutexGuard};
 
+#[cfg(not(any(feature = "_rt-async-std", feature = "_rt-tokio")))]
+pub use dummy::*;
+
 pub struct AsyncSemaphore {
     // We use the semaphore from futures-intrusive as the one from async-std
     // is missing the ability to add arbitrary permits, and is not guaranteed to be fair:
@@ -141,3 +144,42 @@ impl AsyncSemaphoreReleaser<'_> {
         crate::rt::missing_rt(())
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(not(any(feature = "_rt-async-std", feature = "_rt-tokio")))]
+mod dummy {
+    use std::marker::PhantomData;
+
+    use std::ops::{Deref, DerefMut};
+
+    pub struct AsyncMutex<T> {
+        _marker: PhantomData<T>,
+    }
+
+    impl<T> AsyncMutex<T> {
+        pub fn new(val: T) -> Self {
+            crate::rt::missing_rt(val)
+        }
+
+        pub async fn lock(&self) -> AsyncMutexGuard<'_, T> {
+            crate::rt::missing_rt(())
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub struct AsyncMutexGuard<'a, T> {
+        mutex: &'a AsyncMutex<T>,
+    }
+
+    impl<'a, T> Deref for AsyncMutexGuard<'a, T> {
+        type Target = T;
+
+        fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+            crate::rt::missing_rt(())
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl<'a, T> DerefMut for AsyncMutexGuard<'a, T> {
+        fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Target {
+            crate::rt::missing_rt(())
+        }
+    }
+}