diff --git a/devlib/target.py b/devlib/target.py
index baaf338c0..db4ed9adb 100644
--- a/devlib/target.py
+++ b/devlib/target.py
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ def call_conn(f):
 
     @functools.wraps(f)
     def wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        reentered = self.conn.is_in_use
+        conn = self.conn
+        reentered = conn.is_in_use
         disconnect = False
         try:
             # If the connection was already in use we need to use a different
@@ -113,8 +114,9 @@ def wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
             if reentered:
                 # Shallow copy so we can use another connection instance
                 _self = copy.copy(self)
-                _self.conn = _self.get_connection()
-                assert self.conn is not _self.conn
+                new_conn = _self.get_connection()
+                assert conn is not new_conn
+                _self.conn = new_conn
                 disconnect = True
             else:
                 _self = self
@@ -122,6 +124,13 @@ def wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
         finally:
             if disconnect:
                 _self.disconnect()
+            elif not reentered:
+                # Return the connection to the pool, so if we end up exiting
+                # the thread the connection can then be reused by another
+                # thread.
+                del self.conn
+                with self._lock:
+                    self._unused_conns.add(conn)
 
     return wrapper
 
@@ -284,7 +293,8 @@ def is_running(self, comm):
     @tls_property
     def _conn(self):
         try:
-            return self._unused_conns.pop()
+            with self._lock:
+                return self._unused_conns.pop()
         except KeyError:
             return self.get_connection()
 
@@ -311,6 +321,8 @@ def __init__(self,
                  is_container=False,
                  max_async=50,
                  ):
+
+        self._lock = threading.RLock()
         self._async_pool = None
         self._async_pool_size = None
         self._unused_conns = set()
@@ -435,6 +447,7 @@ def __getstate__(self):
         ignored.update((
             '_async_pool',
             '_unused_conns',
+            '_lock',
         ))
         return {
             k: v
@@ -450,6 +463,7 @@ def __setstate__(self, dct):
         else:
             self._async_pool = ThreadPoolExecutor(pool_size)
         self._unused_conns = set()
+        self._lock = threading.RLock()
 
     # connection and initialization
 
@@ -542,6 +556,13 @@ def disconnect(self):
         if pool is not None:
             pool.__exit__(None, None, None)
 
+        with self._lock:
+            connections = self._conn.get_all_values()
+            for conn in itertools.chain(connections, self._unused_conns):
+                conn.close()
+            if self._async_pool is not None:
+                self._async_pool.__exit__(None, None, None)
+
     def __enter__(self):
         return self