diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a18e27146f9..a1c0b125878 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6684,7 +6684,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "nym-node-status-api"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "3.1.1"
 dependencies = [
  "ammonia",
  "anyhow",
diff --git a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/Cargo.toml b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/Cargo.toml
index 7e63db3672f..916f30eb1f8 100644
--- a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 [package]
 name = "nym-node-status-api"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "3.1.1"
 authors.workspace = true
 repository.workspace = true
 homepage.workspace = true
diff --git a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/cli/mod.rs b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/cli/mod.rs
index 0a487afe860..f150dbc1392 100644
--- a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/cli/mod.rs
+++ b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/cli/mod.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ pub(crate) struct Cli {
     #[clap(long, env = "DATABASE_URL")]
     pub(crate) database_url: String,
 
+    #[clap(long, default_value = "5", env = "SQLX_BUSY_TIMEOUT_S")]
+    #[arg(value_parser = parse_duration)]
+    pub(crate) sqlx_busy_timeout_s: Duration,
+
     #[clap(
         long,
         default_value = "300",
diff --git a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/db/mod.rs b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/db/mod.rs
index cc3398964c3..3f7d9449060 100644
--- a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/db/mod.rs
+++ b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use sqlx::{
     migrate::Migrator,
+    query,
     sqlite::{SqliteAutoVacuum, SqliteConnectOptions, SqliteSynchronous},
     ConnectOptions, SqlitePool,
 };
-use std::str::FromStr;
+use std::{str::FromStr, time::Duration};
 
 pub(crate) mod models;
 pub(crate) mod queries;
@@ -18,9 +19,10 @@ pub(crate) struct Storage {
 }
 
 impl Storage {
-    pub async fn init(connection_url: String) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub async fn init(connection_url: String, busy_timeout: Duration) -> Result<Self> {
         let connect_options = SqliteConnectOptions::from_str(&connection_url)?
             .journal_mode(sqlx::sqlite::SqliteJournalMode::Wal)
+            .busy_timeout(busy_timeout)
             .synchronous(SqliteSynchronous::Normal)
             .auto_vacuum(SqliteAutoVacuum::Incremental)
             .foreign_keys(true)
@@ -33,6 +35,9 @@ impl Storage {
 
         MIGRATOR.run(&pool).await?;
 
+        // aftering setting pragma, check whether it was set successfully
+        Self::assert_busy_timeout(pool.clone(), busy_timeout.as_secs() as i64).await?;
+
         Ok(Storage { pool })
     }
 
@@ -40,4 +45,27 @@ impl Storage {
     pub fn pool_owned(&self) -> DbPool {
         self.pool.clone()
     }
+
+    async fn assert_busy_timeout(pool: DbPool, expected_busy_timeout_s: i64) -> Result<()> {
+        let mut conn = pool.acquire().await?;
+        // Sqlite stores this value as miliseconds
+        // https://www.sqlite.org/pragma.html#pragma_busy_timeout
+        let busy_timeout_db = query!("PRAGMA busy_timeout;")
+            .fetch_one(conn.as_mut())
+            .await?;
+
+        let actual_busy_timeout_ms = busy_timeout_db.timeout.unwrap_or(0);
+        tracing::info!("PRAGMA busy_timeout={}ms", actual_busy_timeout_ms);
+        let expected_busy_timeout_ms = expected_busy_timeout_s * 1000;
+
+        if expected_busy_timeout_ms != actual_busy_timeout_ms {
+            anyhow::bail!(
+                "PRAGMA busy_timeout expected: {}ms, actual: {}ms",
+                expected_busy_timeout_ms,
+                actual_busy_timeout_ms
+            );
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }
diff --git a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/main.rs b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/main.rs
index f0bd3b5b469..7db3015a7d8 100644
--- a/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/main.rs
+++ b/nym-node-status-api/nym-node-status-api/src/main.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let connection_url = args.database_url.clone();
     tracing::debug!("Using config:\n{:#?}", args);
 
-    let storage = db::Storage::init(connection_url).await?;
+    let storage = db::Storage::init(connection_url, args.sqlx_busy_timeout_s).await?;
     let db_pool = storage.pool_owned();
 
     // Start the node scraper