diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0666c5e..7da1198 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 [![Go Reference](https://pkg.go.dev/badge/github.com/infobloxopen/hotload.svg)](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/infobloxopen/hotload)
 # hotload
 Hotload is a golang database/sql that supports dynamic reloading
@@ -75,3 +76,17 @@ Pth represents a unique string that makes sense to the strategy. For example, pt
 point to a path in etcd or a kind/id in k8s.
 
 The hotload project ships with one hotload strategy: fsnotify.
+
+# Force Kill
+
+By default, the hotload driver allows for connections to be closed gracefully by the underlying driver. If your 
+application holds connections open with long running operations, this will prevent graceful switchover to new datasources.
+
+Adding `forceKill=true` to your DSN will cause the hotload driver to close the underlying connection manually when a 
+change to the connection information is detected.
+
+
+For example:
+```
+db, err := sql.Open("hotload", "fsnotify://postgres/tmp/myconfig.txt?forceKill=true")
+```
diff --git a/chanGroup_test.go b/chanGroup_test.go
index 246d394..faf3a63 100644
--- a/chanGroup_test.go
+++ b/chanGroup_test.go
@@ -2,11 +2,32 @@ package hotload
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"database/sql/driver"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	"sync"
 )
 
+type testConn struct {
+	closed bool
+}
+
+func (tc *testConn) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
+	return tc, nil
+}
+
+func (tc *testConn) Prepare(query string) (driver.Stmt, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+func (tc *testConn) Begin() (driver.Tx, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (tc *testConn) Close() error {
+	tc.closed = true
+	return nil
+}
+
 var _ = Describe("Driver", func() {
 	var pctx context.Context
 	var ctx context.Context
@@ -58,11 +79,30 @@ var _ = Describe("Driver", func() {
 		})
 
 		It("Should mark all connections for reset", func() {
-			cg.markForReset()
+			cg.resetConnections()
 
 			for _, c := range conns {
 				Expect(c.reset).To(BeTrue())
 			}
 		})
+
+		It("Should kill all connections when specified", func() {
+			cg.forceKill = true
+			testConns := make([]*testConn, 0)
+			for _, c := range cg.conns {
+				tc := &testConn{}
+				c.conn = tc
+				testConns = append(testConns, tc)
+			}
+			cg.resetConnections()
+
+			for _, c := range conns {
+				Expect(c.killed).To(BeTrue(), "connection should be marked killed")
+			}
+
+			for _, tc := range testConns {
+				Expect(tc.closed).To(BeTrue(), "Closed() should have been called on the underlying connection")
+			}
+		})
 	})
 })
diff --git a/conn.go b/conn.go
index 10c79b6..f34372d 100644
--- a/conn.go
+++ b/conn.go
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ import (
 // managedConn wraps a sql/driver.Conn so that it can be closed by
 // a supervising context.
 type managedConn struct {
-	ctx   context.Context
-	conn  driver.Conn
-	reset bool
-	mu    sync.RWMutex
+	ctx    context.Context
+	conn   driver.Conn
+	reset  bool
+	killed bool
+	mu     sync.RWMutex
 }
 
 func newManagedConn(ctx context.Context, conn driver.Conn) *managedConn {
@@ -112,7 +113,15 @@ func (c *managedConn) ResetSession(ctx context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func (c *managedConn) Close() error {
-	return c.conn.Close()
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	err := c.conn.Close()
+
+	if err == nil {
+		c.killed = true
+	}
+
+	return err
 }
 
 func (c *managedConn) GetReset() bool {
@@ -126,3 +135,9 @@ func (c *managedConn) Reset(v bool) {
 	defer c.mu.Unlock()
 	c.reset = v
 }
+
+func (c *managedConn) GetKill() bool {
+	c.mu.RLock()
+	defer c.mu.RUnlock()
+	return c.killed
+}
diff --git a/driver.go b/driver.go
index a6406ec..e03c7d3 100644
--- a/driver.go
+++ b/driver.go
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ type Strategy interface {
 	Watch(ctx context.Context, pth string, options url.Values) (value string, values <-chan string, err error)
 }
 
+const forceKill = "forceKill"
+
 var (
 	ErrUnsupportedStrategy       = fmt.Errorf("unsupported hotload strategy")
 	ErrMalformedConnectionString = fmt.Errorf("malformed hotload connection string")
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ type chanGroup struct {
 	cancel    context.CancelFunc
 	sqlDriver driver.Driver
 	mu        sync.RWMutex
+	forceKill bool
 	conns     []*managedConn
 }
 
@@ -180,15 +183,20 @@ func (cg *chanGroup) valueChanged(v string) {
 	defer cg.mu.Unlock()
 	cg.cancel()
 	cg.ctx, cg.cancel = context.WithCancel(cg.parentCtx)
-	cg.markForReset()
+	cg.resetConnections()
 
 	cg.value = v
 
 }
 
-func (cg *chanGroup) markForReset() {
+func (cg *chanGroup) resetConnections() {
 	for _, c := range cg.conns {
 		c.Reset(true)
+
+		if cg.forceKill {
+			// ignore errors from close
+			c.Close()
+		}
 	}
 
 	cg.conns = make([]*managedConn, 0)
@@ -208,6 +216,16 @@ func (cg *chanGroup) Open() (driver.Conn, error) {
 	return manConn, nil
 }
 
+func (cg *chanGroup) parseValues(vs url.Values) {
+	cg.mu.Lock()
+	defer cg.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if v, ok := vs[forceKill]; ok {
+		firstValue := v[0]
+		cg.forceKill = firstValue == "true"
+	}
+}
+
 func (h *hdriver) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 	uri, err := url.Parse(name)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -228,8 +246,8 @@ func (h *hdriver) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 		if !ok {
 			return nil, ErrUnknownDriver
 		}
-
-		value, values, err := strategy.Watch(h.ctx, uri.Path, uri.Query())
+		queryParams := uri.Query()
+		value, values, err := strategy.Watch(h.ctx, uri.Path, queryParams)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -243,6 +261,7 @@ func (h *hdriver) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 			sqlDriver: sqlDriver,
 			conns:     make([]*managedConn, 0),
 		}
+		cgroup.parseValues(queryParams)
 		h.cgroup[name] = cgroup
 		go cgroup.run()
 	}