diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5863b69c..b39ce09e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# Changes for the next release
+### Notable new features
+* Database performance is significantly improved.
+
 # 1.8.7
 ### Compatibility-breaking changes
 * **IMPORTANT:** It is no longer possible to protect a group pad with a
diff --git a/bin/importSqlFile.js b/bin/importSqlFile.js
index a67cb8bf..870c02cc 100644
--- a/bin/importSqlFile.js
+++ b/bin/importSqlFile.js
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ require('ep_etherpad-lite/node_modules/npm').load({}, (er, npm) => {
       process.stdout.write('\n');
       process.stdout.write('done. waiting for db to finish transaction. depended on dbms this may take some time...\n');
 
-      db.doShutdown(() => {
+      db.close(() => {
         log(`finished, imported ${keyNo} keys.`);
         process.exit(0);
       });
diff --git a/src/node/db/DB.js b/src/node/db/DB.js
index 601c08c5..12d3d9f8 100644
--- a/src/node/db/DB.js
+++ b/src/node/db/DB.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ exports.init = async () => await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     }
 
     // everything ok, set up Promise-based methods
-    ['get', 'set', 'findKeys', 'getSub', 'setSub', 'remove', 'doShutdown'].forEach((fn) => {
+    ['get', 'set', 'findKeys', 'getSub', 'setSub', 'remove'].forEach((fn) => {
       exports[fn] = util.promisify(db[fn].bind(db));
     });
 
@@ -73,6 +73,6 @@ exports.init = async () => await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
 });
 
 exports.shutdown = async (hookName, context) => {
-  await exports.doShutdown();
+  await util.promisify(db.close.bind(db))();
   console.log('Database closed');
 };
diff --git a/src/package-lock.json b/src/package-lock.json
index f8201955..1e902d29 100644
--- a/src/package-lock.json
+++ b/src/package-lock.json
@@ -4179,9 +4179,9 @@
       "dev": true
     },
     "needle": {
-      "version": "2.5.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/needle/-/needle-2.5.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-LbRIwS9BfkPvNwNHlsA41Q29kL2L/6VaOJ0qisM5lLWsTV3nP15abO5ITL6L81zqFhzjRKDAYjpcBcwM0AVvLQ==",
+      "version": "2.6.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/needle/-/needle-2.6.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-KKYdza4heMsEfSWD7VPUIz3zX2XDwOyX2d+geb4vrERZMT5RMU6ujjaD+I5Yr54uZxQ2w6XRTAhHBbSCyovZBg==",
       "optional": true,
       "requires": {
         "debug": "^3.2.6",
@@ -4236,9 +4236,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node-addon-api": {
-      "version": "2.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-addon-api/-/node-addon-api-2.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-ASCL5U13as7HhOExbT6OlWJJUV/lLzL2voOSP1UVehpRD8FbSrSDjfScK/KwAvVTI5AS6r4VwbOMlIqtvRidnA==",
+      "version": "3.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-addon-api/-/node-addon-api-3.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-flmrDNB06LIl5lywUz7YlNGZH/5p0M7W28k8hzd9Lshtdh1wshD2Y+U4h9LD6KObOy1f+fEVdgprPrEymjM5uw==",
       "optional": true
     },
     "node-environment-flags": {
@@ -8858,12 +8858,12 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-BOaSb2YolTVPPdAVIDYzuFcpfiw="
     },
     "sqlite3": {
-      "version": "5.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/sqlite3/-/sqlite3-5.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-rjvqHFUaSGnzxDy2AHCwhHy6Zp6MNJzCPGYju4kD8yi6bze4d1/zMTg6C7JI49b7/EM7jKMTvyfN/4ylBKdwfw==",
+      "version": "5.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/sqlite3/-/sqlite3-5.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-kh2lTIcYNfmVcvhVJihsYuPj9U0xzBbh6bmqILO2hkryWSC9RRhzYmkIDtJkJ+d8Kg4wZRJ0T1reyHUEspICfg==",
       "optional": true,
       "requires": {
-        "node-addon-api": "2.0.0",
+        "node-addon-api": "^3.0.0",
         "node-gyp": "3.x",
         "node-pre-gyp": "^0.11.0"
       }
@@ -9358,9 +9358,9 @@
       }
     },
     "ueberdb2": {
-      "version": "1.1.7",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ueberdb2/-/ueberdb2-1.1.7.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-Fxvpei4MVYOlCWZ67I5iibYyaHIb40ZLwN0OsjPEuMpcWYBXuwkl+svFyA2nYgk9/1Nk9eL/zdsXbwm7BLMKsg==",
+      "version": "1.2.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ueberdb2/-/ueberdb2-1.2.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-b1WeG5KinxddpFAkHcFJW5tDuoGMonI3AyZgqmmHKnvF7CJTprPX17n0AOi3iQcu97uoxz9nb56KEQ4gHQOCJQ==",
       "requires": {
         "async": "^3.2.0",
         "cassandra-driver": "^4.5.1",
@@ -9371,7 +9371,7 @@
         "elasticsearch": "^16.7.1",
         "mocha": "^7.1.2",
         "mongodb": "^3.6.3",
-        "mssql": "7.0.0-alpha.4",
+        "mssql": "^7.0.0-alpha.4",
         "mysql": "2.18.1",
         "nano": "^8.2.2",
         "pg": "^8.0.3",
diff --git a/src/package.json b/src/package.json
index fcf73751..66d71766 100644
--- a/src/package.json
+++ b/src/package.json
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
     "threads": "^1.4.0",
     "tiny-worker": "^2.3.0",
     "tinycon": "0.0.1",
-    "ueberdb2": "^1.1.7",
+    "ueberdb2": "^1.2.1",
     "underscore": "1.8.3",
     "unorm": "1.4.1"
   },