diff --git a/server/lobbyconnection.py b/server/lobbyconnection.py
index ad87aeca7..c50c10964 100644
--- a/server/lobbyconnection.py
+++ b/server/lobbyconnection.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 import aiohttp
 from sqlalchemy import and_, func, select
-from sqlalchemy.exc import DBAPIError
+from sqlalchemy.exc import DBAPIError, OperationalError
 
 import server.metrics as metrics
 from server.db import FAFDatabase
@@ -216,6 +216,16 @@ async def on_message_received(self, message):
                 self.get_user_identifier(),
                 cmd
             )
+        except OperationalError:
+            # When the database goes down, SqlAlchemy will throw an OperationalError
+            self._logger.error("Encountered OperationalError on message received. This could indicate DB is down.")
+            await self.send({
+                "command": "notice",
+                "style": "error",
+                "text": "Unable to connect to database. Please try again later."
+            })
+            # Make sure to abort here to avoid a thundering herd problem.
+            await self.abort("Error connecting to database")
         except Exception as e:  # pragma: no cover
             await self.send({"command": "invalid"})
             self._logger.exception(e)
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_lobbyconnection.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_lobbyconnection.py
index b3977531f..248102f7c 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_lobbyconnection.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_lobbyconnection.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import pytest
 from aiohttp import web
 from sqlalchemy import and_, select
+from sqlalchemy.exc import OperationalError
 
 from server.config import config
 from server.db.models import ban, friends_and_foes
@@ -159,6 +160,28 @@ async def test_bad_command_calls_abort(lobbyconnection):
     lobbyconnection.abort.assert_called_once_with("Error processing command")
 
 
+async def test_database_outage_error_responds_cleanly(lobbyconnection):
+    lobbyconnection.abort = mock.AsyncMock()
+    lobbyconnection.check_policy_conformity = mock.AsyncMock(return_value=True)
+    lobbyconnection.send = mock.AsyncMock()
+
+    def mock_ensure_authenticated(cmd):
+        raise OperationalError(statement="", params=[], orig=None)
+    lobbyconnection.ensure_authenticated = mock_ensure_authenticated
+    await lobbyconnection.on_message_received({
+        "command": "hello",
+        "login": "test",
+        "password": sha256(b"test_password").hexdigest(),
+        "unique_id": "blah"
+    })
+    lobbyconnection.send.assert_called_once_with({
+        "command": "notice",
+        "style": "error",
+        "text": "Unable to connect to database. Please try again later."
+    })
+    lobbyconnection.abort.assert_called_once_with("Error connecting to database")
+
+
 async def test_command_pong_does_nothing(lobbyconnection):
     lobbyconnection.send = mock.AsyncMock()