diff --git a/src/Database/Database.php b/src/Database/Database.php
index d155a9276c..787ae54c7b 100644
--- a/src/Database/Database.php
+++ b/src/Database/Database.php
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ class Database
 			return false;
 		}
 
+		$persistent = (bool)$this->configCache->get('database', 'persistent');
+
 		$this->emulate_prepares = (bool)$this->configCache->get('database', 'emulate_prepares');
 		$this->pdo_emulate_prepares = (bool)$this->configCache->get('database', 'pdo_emulate_prepares');
 
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ class Database
 			}
 
 			try {
-				$this->connection = @new PDO($connect, $user, $pass);
+				$this->connection = @new PDO($connect, $user, $pass, [PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => $persistent]);
 				$this->connection->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, $this->pdo_emulate_prepares);
 				$this->connected = true;
 			} catch (PDOException $e) {
diff --git a/static/defaults.config.php b/static/defaults.config.php
index b711345064..947ac1dc01 100644
--- a/static/defaults.config.php
+++ b/static/defaults.config.php
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ return [
 		// disable_pdo (Boolean)
 		// PDO is used by default (if available). Otherwise MySQLi will be used.
 		'disable_pdo' => false,
+
+		// persistent (Boolean)
+		// This controls if the system should use persistent connections or not.
+		// Persistent connections increase the performance.
+		// On the other hand the number of open connections are higher,
+		// this will most likely increase the system load.
+		'persistent' => false,
 	],
 	'config' => [
 		// admin_email (Comma-separated list)