diff --git a/db/db.go b/db/db.go
index 7f0a437..cc4d8c3 100644
--- a/db/db.go
+++ b/db/db.go
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ func Open(config *service.Config) (*bun.DB, error) {
 	dsn := config.DatabaseUri
 	switch {
 	case strings.HasPrefix(dsn, "postgres://") || strings.HasPrefix(dsn, "postgresql://") || strings.HasPrefix(dsn, "unix://"):
-		dbConn := sql.OpenDB(pgdriver.NewConnector(pgdriver.WithDSN(dsn)))
+		dbConn := sql.OpenDB(
+			pgdriver.NewConnector(
+				pgdriver.WithDSN(dsn),
+				pgdriver.WithTimeout(time.Duration(config.DatabaseTimeout)*time.Second)))
 		db = bun.NewDB(dbConn, pgdialect.New())
 		db.SetMaxOpenConns(config.DatabaseMaxConns)
 		db.SetMaxIdleConns(config.DatabaseMaxIdleConns)
diff --git a/integration_tests/subscription_start_test.go b/integration_tests/subscription_start_test.go
index 25d3e6e..01683dd 100644
--- a/integration_tests/subscription_start_test.go
+++ b/integration_tests/subscription_start_test.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func (mock *lndSubscriptionStartMockClient) SubscribeInvoices(ctx context.Contex
 	return mock, nil
 }
 
-//wait forever
+// wait forever
 func (mock *lndSubscriptionStartMockClient) Recv() (*lnrpc.Invoice, error) {
 	select {}
 }
diff --git a/lib/service/config.go b/lib/service/config.go
index 082bdaf..7fcb5f1 100644
--- a/lib/service/config.go
+++ b/lib/service/config.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	DatabaseMaxConns        int     `envconfig:"DATABASE_MAX_CONNS" default:"10"`
 	DatabaseMaxIdleConns    int     `envconfig:"DATABASE_MAX_IDLE_CONNS" default:"5"`
 	DatabaseConnMaxLifetime int     `envconfig:"DATABASE_CONN_MAX_LIFETIME" default:"1800"` // 30 minutes
+	DatabaseTimeout         int     `envconfig:"DATABASE_TIMEOUT" default:"60"`             // 60 seconds
 	SentryDSN               string  `envconfig:"SENTRY_DSN"`
 	SentryTracesSampleRate  float64 `envconfig:"SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE"`
 	LogFilePath             string  `envconfig:"LOG_FILE_PATH"`
diff --git a/lib/service/invoicesubscription.go b/lib/service/invoicesubscription.go
index 3d8fd6a..33bff9a 100644
--- a/lib/service/invoicesubscription.go
+++ b/lib/service/invoicesubscription.go
@@ -220,12 +220,19 @@ func (svc *LndhubService) ConnectInvoiceSubscription(ctx context.Context) (lnd.S
 	var invoice models.Invoice
 	invoiceSubscriptionOptions := lnrpc.InvoiceSubscription{}
 	// Find the oldest NOT settled AND NOT expired invoice with an add_index
-	//  Note: expired invoices will not be settled anymore, so we don't care about those
-	err := svc.DB.NewSelect().Model(&invoice).Where("invoice.settled_at IS NULL AND invoice.add_index IS NOT NULL AND invoice.expires_at >= now()").OrderExpr("invoice.id ASC").Limit(1).Scan(ctx)
+	// Build in a safety buffer of 14h to account for lndhub downtime
+	// Note: expired invoices will not be settled anymore, so we don't care about those
+	err := svc.DB.NewSelect().Model(&invoice).Where("invoice.settled_at IS NULL AND invoice.add_index IS NOT NULL AND invoice.expires_at >= (now() - interval '14 hours')").OrderExpr("invoice.id ASC").Limit(1).Scan(ctx)
 	// IF we found an invoice we use that index to start the subscription
-	if err == nil {
-		invoiceSubscriptionOptions = lnrpc.InvoiceSubscription{AddIndex: invoice.AddIndex - 1} // -1 because we want updates for that invoice already
+	// if we get an error there might be a serious issue here
+	// and we are at risk of missing paid invoices, so we should not continue
+	// if we just didn't find any unsettled invoices that's allright though
+	if err != nil && err != sql.ErrNoRows {
+		sentry.CaptureException(err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
+	// subtract 1 (read invoiceSubscriptionOptions.Addindex docs)
+	invoiceSubscriptionOptions.AddIndex = invoice.AddIndex - 1
 	svc.Logger.Infof("Starting invoice subscription from index: %v", invoiceSubscriptionOptions.AddIndex)
 	return svc.LndClient.SubscribeInvoices(ctx, &invoiceSubscriptionOptions)
 }
@@ -239,14 +246,16 @@ func (svc *LndhubService) InvoiceUpdateSubscription(ctx context.Context) error {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
-			return fmt.Errorf("Context was canceled")
+			return context.Canceled
 		default:
 			// receive the next invoice update
 			rawInvoice, err := invoiceSubscriptionStream.Recv()
+			// in case of an error, we want to return and restart LNDhub
+			// in order to try and reconnect the gRPC subscription
 			if err != nil {
 				svc.Logger.Errorf("Error processing invoice update subscription: %v", err)
 				sentry.CaptureException(err)
-				continue
+				return err
 			}
 
 			// Ignore updates for open invoices
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 90aebaf..e1b10fd 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -179,8 +179,9 @@ func main() {
 	backgroundWg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		err = svc.InvoiceUpdateSubscription(backGroundCtx)
-		if err != nil {
-			svc.Logger.Error(err)
+		if err != nil && err != context.Canceled {
+			// in case of an error in this routine, we want to restart LNDhub
+			svc.Logger.Fatal(err)
 		}
 		svc.Logger.Info("Invoice routine done")
 		backgroundWg.Done()