diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 3cbe9130c..b49411164 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ class Config(object):
     SQLALCHEMY_COMMIT_ON_TEARDOWN = False
     SQLALCHEMY_RECORD_QUERIES = True
     SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = True
+    SQLALCHEMY_POOL_SIZE = int(os.environ.get('SQLALCHEMY_POOL_SIZE', 5))
     SQLALCHEMY_POOL_TIMEOUT = 30
     SQLALCHEMY_POOL_RECYCLE = 300
     PAGE_SIZE = 50
diff --git a/manifest-api-base.yml b/manifest-api-base.yml
index 025459ef3..e8197575f 100644
--- a/manifest-api-base.yml
+++ b/manifest-api-base.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ env:
   CW_APP_NAME: api
   # required by cf run-task
   FLASK_APP: application.py
+  SQLALCHEMY_POOL_SIZE: 10
 
   # Credentials variables
   ADMIN_BASE_URL: null