diff --git a/src/channels/imessage.rs b/src/channels/imessage.rs
index e81d6a1..9675d15 100644
--- a/src/channels/imessage.rs
+++ b/src/channels/imessage.rs
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ end tell"#
         // Open a persistent read-only connection instead of creating
         // a new one on every 3-second poll cycle.
         let path = db_path.to_path_buf();
-        let mut conn = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || -> anyhow::Result<Connection> {
+        let conn = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || -> anyhow::Result<Connection> {
             Ok(Connection::open_with_flags(
                 &path,
                 OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_READ_ONLY | OpenFlags::SQLITE_OPEN_NO_MUTEX,
@@ -158,25 +158,28 @@ end tell"#
         .await??;
 
         // Track the last ROWID we've seen (shuttle conn in and out)
-        let (c, initial_rowid) =
+        let (mut conn, initial_rowid) =
             tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || -> anyhow::Result<(Connection, i64)> {
-                let mut stmt =
-                    conn.prepare("SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM message WHERE is_from_me = 0")?;
-                let rowid: Option<i64> = stmt.query_row([], |row| row.get(0))?;
-                Ok((conn, rowid.unwrap_or(0)))
+                let rowid = {
+                    let mut stmt =
+                        conn.prepare("SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM message WHERE is_from_me = 0")?;
+                    let rowid: Option<i64> = stmt.query_row([], |row| row.get(0))?;
+                    rowid.unwrap_or(0)
+                };
+                Ok((conn, rowid))
             })
             .await??;
-        conn = c;
         let mut last_rowid = initial_rowid;
 
         loop {
             tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_secs(self.poll_interval_secs)).await;
 
             let since = last_rowid;
-            let poll_result = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(
-                move || -> anyhow::Result<(Connection, Vec<(i64, String, String)>)> {
-                    let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
-                        "SELECT m.ROWID, h.id, m.text \
+            let (returned_conn, poll_result) = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(
+                move || -> (Connection, anyhow::Result<Vec<(i64, String, String)>>) {
+                    let result = (|| -> anyhow::Result<Vec<(i64, String, String)>> {
+                        let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
+                            "SELECT m.ROWID, h.id, m.text \
                      FROM message m \
                      JOIN handle h ON m.handle_id = h.ROWID \
                      WHERE m.ROWID > ?1 \
@@ -184,23 +187,27 @@ end tell"#
                      AND m.text IS NOT NULL \
                      ORDER BY m.ROWID ASC \
                      LIMIT 20",
-                    )?;
-                    let rows = stmt.query_map([since], |row| {
-                        Ok((
-                            row.get::<_, i64>(0)?,
-                            row.get::<_, String>(1)?,
-                            row.get::<_, String>(2)?,
-                        ))
-                    })?;
-                    let results = rows.collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
-                    Ok((conn, results))
+                        )?;
+                        let rows = stmt.query_map([since], |row| {
+                            Ok((
+                                row.get::<_, i64>(0)?,
+                                row.get::<_, String>(1)?,
+                                row.get::<_, String>(2)?,
+                            ))
+                        })?;
+                        let results = rows.collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
+                        Ok(results)
+                    })();
+
+                    (conn, result)
                 },
             )
-            .await?;
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("iMessage poll worker join error: {e}"))?;
+            conn = returned_conn;
 
             match poll_result {
-                Ok((c, messages)) => {
-                    conn = c;
+                Ok(messages) => {
                     for (rowid, sender, text) in messages {
                         if rowid > last_rowid {
                             last_rowid = rowid;