diff --git a/src/Worker/Cron.php b/src/Worker/Cron.php
index 1901766d3a..acb5132afb 100644
--- a/src/Worker/Cron.php
+++ b/src/Worker/Cron.php
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ namespace Friendica\Worker;
 use Friendica\Core\Hook;
 use Friendica\Core\Logger;
 use Friendica\Core\Worker;
+use Friendica\Database\DBA;
 use Friendica\DI;
 use Friendica\Model\Tag;
 
@@ -54,6 +55,10 @@ class Cron
 			copy($basepath . '/.htaccess-dist', $basepath . '/.htaccess');
 		}
 
+		if (DI::config()->get('system', 'delete_sleeping_processes')) {
+			self::deleteSleepingProcesses();
+		}
+
 		// Fork the cron jobs in separate parts to avoid problems when one of them is crashing
 		Hook::fork(PRIORITY_MEDIUM, 'cron');
 
@@ -137,4 +142,25 @@ class Cron
 
 		DI::config()->set('system', 'last_cron', time());
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Kill sleeping database processes
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	private static function deleteSleepingProcesses()
+	{
+		Logger::info('Looking for sleeping processes');
+		
+		$processes = DBA::p("SHOW FULL PROCESSLIST");
+		while ($process = DBA::fetch($processes)) {
+			if (($process['Command'] != 'Sleep') || ($process['Time'] < 300) || ($process['db'] != DBA::databaseName())) {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			DBA::e("KILL ?", $process['Id']);
+			Logger::notice('Killed sleeping process', ['id' => $process['Id']]);
+		}
+		DBA::close($processes);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/static/defaults.config.php b/static/defaults.config.php
index 2bc2bea5b1..893f77cbd5 100644
--- a/static/defaults.config.php
+++ b/static/defaults.config.php
@@ -194,6 +194,10 @@ return [
 		// If it is not running and hadn't been terminated normally, it will be started automatically.
 		'daemon_watchdog' => false,
 
+		// delete_sleeping_processes (Boolean)
+		// Periodically delete waiting database processes.
+		'delete_sleeping_processes' => false,
+
 		// diaspora_test (Boolean)
 		// For development only. Disables the message transfer.
 		'diaspora_test' => false,