diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/basecrawls.py b/backend/btrixcloud/basecrawls.py
index cd1c344f67..73e1cc347e 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/basecrawls.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/basecrawls.py
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@
 from datetime import timedelta
 from typing import Optional, List, Union
 import urllib.parse
+import contextlib
 
 from pydantic import UUID4
 from fastapi import HTTPException, Depends
-from redis import asyncio as aioredis, exceptions
+from redis import exceptions
 
 from .models import (
     CrawlFile,
@@ -216,8 +217,8 @@ async def _resolve_crawl_refs(
         # more responsive, saves db update in operator
         if crawl.state in RUNNING_STATES:
             try:
-                redis = await self.get_redis(crawl.id)
-                crawl.stats = await get_redis_crawl_stats(redis, crawl.id)
+                async with self.get_redis(crawl.id) as redis:
+                    crawl.stats = await get_redis_crawl_stats(redis, crawl.id)
             # redis not available, ignore
             except exceptions.ConnectionError:
                 pass
@@ -281,13 +282,17 @@ async def _update_presigned(self, updates):
         for update in updates:
             await self.crawls.find_one_and_update(*update)
 
+    @contextlib.asynccontextmanager
     async def get_redis(self, crawl_id):
         """get redis url for crawl id"""
         redis_url = self.crawl_manager.get_redis_url(crawl_id)
 
-        return await aioredis.from_url(
-            redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
-        )
+        redis = await self.crawl_manager.get_redis_client(redis_url)
+
+        try:
+            yield redis
+        finally:
+            await redis.close()
 
     async def add_to_collection(
         self, crawl_ids: List[uuid.UUID], collection_id: uuid.UUID, org: Organization
diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py b/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
index 2ed4c5a778..80db4f3fc4 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
@@ -363,23 +363,26 @@ async def get_crawl_queue(self, crawl_id, offset, count, regex):
 
         total = 0
         results = []
-        redis = None
 
         try:
-            redis = await self.get_redis(crawl_id)
+            async with self.get_redis(crawl_id) as redis:
+                total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
+                results = await self._crawl_queue_range(
+                    redis, f"{crawl_id}:q", offset, count
+                )
+                results = [json.loads(result)["url"] for result in results]
 
-            total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
-            results = await self._crawl_queue_range(
-                redis, f"{crawl_id}:q", offset, count
-            )
-            results = [json.loads(result)["url"] for result in results]
         except exceptions.ConnectionError:
             # can't connect to redis, likely not initialized yet
             pass
 
         matched = []
         if regex:
-            regex = re.compile(regex)
+            try:
+                regex = re.compile(regex)
+            except re.error as exc:
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid_regex") from exc
+
             matched = [result for result in results if regex.search(result)]
 
         return {"total": total, "results": results, "matched": matched}
@@ -387,25 +390,29 @@ async def get_crawl_queue(self, crawl_id, offset, count, regex):
     async def match_crawl_queue(self, crawl_id, regex):
         """get list of urls that match regex"""
         total = 0
-        redis = None
-
-        try:
-            redis = await self.get_redis(crawl_id)
-            total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
-        except exceptions.ConnectionError:
-            # can't connect to redis, likely not initialized yet
-            pass
-
-        regex = re.compile(regex)
         matched = []
         step = 50
 
-        for count in range(0, total, step):
-            results = await self._crawl_queue_range(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q", count, step)
-            for result in results:
-                url = json.loads(result)["url"]
-                if regex.search(url):
-                    matched.append(url)
+        async with self.get_redis(crawl_id) as redis:
+            try:
+                total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
+            except exceptions.ConnectionError:
+                # can't connect to redis, likely not initialized yet
+                pass
+
+            try:
+                regex = re.compile(regex)
+            except re.error as exc:
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid_regex") from exc
+
+            for count in range(0, total, step):
+                results = await self._crawl_queue_range(
+                    redis, f"{crawl_id}:q", count, step
+                )
+                for result in results:
+                    url = json.loads(result)["url"]
+                    if regex.search(url):
+                        matched.append(url)
 
         return {"total": total, "matched": matched}
 
@@ -413,56 +420,58 @@ async def filter_crawl_queue(self, crawl_id, regex):
         """filter out urls that match regex"""
         # pylint: disable=too-many-locals
         total = 0
-        redis = None
-
         q_key = f"{crawl_id}:q"
         s_key = f"{crawl_id}:s"
-
-        try:
-            redis = await self.get_redis(crawl_id)
-            total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
-        except exceptions.ConnectionError:
-            # can't connect to redis, likely not initialized yet
-            pass
-
-        dircount = -1
-        regex = re.compile(regex)
         step = 50
-
-        count = 0
         num_removed = 0
 
-        # pylint: disable=fixme
-        # todo: do this in a more efficient way?
-        # currently quite inefficient as redis does not have a way
-        # to atomically check and remove value from list
-        # so removing each jsob block by value
-        while count < total:
-            if dircount == -1 and count > total / 2:
-                dircount = 1
-            results = await self._crawl_queue_range(redis, q_key, count, step)
-            count += step
-
-            qrems = []
-            srems = []
-
-            for result in results:
-                url = json.loads(result)["url"]
-                if regex.search(url):
-                    srems.append(url)
-                    # await redis.srem(s_key, url)
-                    # res = await self._crawl_queue_rem(redis, q_key, result, dircount)
-                    qrems.append(result)
-
-            if not srems:
-                continue
-
-            await redis.srem(s_key, *srems)
-            res = await self._crawl_queue_rem(redis, q_key, qrems, dircount)
-            if res:
-                count -= res
-                num_removed += res
-                print(f"Removed {res} from queue", flush=True)
+        async with self.get_redis(crawl_id) as redis:
+            try:
+                total = await self._crawl_queue_len(redis, f"{crawl_id}:q")
+            except exceptions.ConnectionError:
+                # can't connect to redis, likely not initialized yet
+                pass
+
+            dircount = -1
+
+            try:
+                regex = re.compile(regex)
+            except re.error as exc:
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid_regex") from exc
+
+            count = 0
+
+            # pylint: disable=fixme
+            # todo: do this in a more efficient way?
+            # currently quite inefficient as redis does not have a way
+            # to atomically check and remove value from list
+            # so removing each jsob block by value
+            while count < total:
+                if dircount == -1 and count > total / 2:
+                    dircount = 1
+                results = await self._crawl_queue_range(redis, q_key, count, step)
+                count += step
+
+                qrems = []
+                srems = []
+
+                for result in results:
+                    url = json.loads(result)["url"]
+                    if regex.search(url):
+                        srems.append(url)
+                        # await redis.srem(s_key, url)
+                        # res = await self._crawl_queue_rem(redis, q_key, result, dircount)
+                        qrems.append(result)
+
+                if not srems:
+                    continue
+
+                await redis.srem(s_key, *srems)
+                res = await self._crawl_queue_rem(redis, q_key, qrems, dircount)
+                if res:
+                    count -= res
+                    num_removed += res
+                    print(f"Removed {res} from queue", flush=True)
 
         return num_removed
 
@@ -475,13 +484,13 @@ async def get_errors_from_redis(
         skip = page * page_size
         upper_bound = skip + page_size - 1
 
-        try:
-            redis = await self.get_redis(crawl_id)
-            errors = await redis.lrange(f"{crawl_id}:e", skip, upper_bound)
-            total = await redis.llen(f"{crawl_id}:e")
-        except exceptions.ConnectionError:
-            # pylint: disable=raise-missing-from
-            raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail="redis_connection_error")
+        async with self.get_redis(crawl_id) as redis:
+            try:
+                errors = await redis.lrange(f"{crawl_id}:e", skip, upper_bound)
+                total = await redis.llen(f"{crawl_id}:e")
+            except exceptions.ConnectionError:
+                # pylint: disable=raise-missing-from
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail="redis_connection_error")
 
         parsed_errors = parse_jsonl_error_messages(errors)
         return parsed_errors, total
diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/k8sapi.py b/backend/btrixcloud/k8sapi.py
index 414ee62a1c..705c9b11e1 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/k8sapi.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/k8sapi.py
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
 from kubernetes_asyncio.utils import create_from_dict
 from kubernetes_asyncio.client.exceptions import ApiException
 
+from redis.asyncio import Redis
+from redis.asyncio.connection import ConnectionPool
+
 from fastapi.templating import Jinja2Templates
 from .utils import get_templates_dir, dt_now, to_k8s_date
 
@@ -62,6 +65,17 @@ def get_redis_url(self, crawl_id):
         )
         return redis_url
 
+    async def get_redis_client(self, redis_url):
+        """return redis client with correct params for one-time use"""
+        # manual settings until redis 5.0.0 is released
+        pool = ConnectionPool.from_url(redis_url, decode_responses=True)
+        redis = Redis(
+            connection_pool=pool,
+            decode_responses=True,
+        )
+        redis.auto_close_connection_pool = True
+        return redis
+
     # pylint: disable=too-many-arguments
     async def new_crawl_job(
         self, cid, userid, oid, scale=1, crawl_timeout=0, manual=True
diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/operator.py b/backend/btrixcloud/operator.py
index 71b0da13ad..03dccd3285 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/operator.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/operator.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 import humanize
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel
-from redis import asyncio as aioredis
 
 from .utils import (
     from_k8s_date,
@@ -430,6 +429,7 @@ async def delete_pvc(self, crawl_id):
     async def cancel_crawl(self, redis_url, crawl_id, cid, status, state):
         """immediately cancel crawl with specified state
         return true if db mark_finished update succeeds"""
+        redis = None
         try:
             redis = await self._get_redis(redis_url)
             await self.mark_finished(redis, crawl_id, uuid.UUID(cid), status, state)
@@ -438,6 +438,10 @@ async def cancel_crawl(self, redis_url, crawl_id, cid, status, state):
         except:
             return False
 
+        finally:
+            if redis:
+                await redis.close()
+
     def _done_response(self, status, finalized=False):
         """done response for removing crawl"""
         return {
@@ -462,15 +466,16 @@ async def _get_redis(self, redis_url):
         """init redis, ensure connectivity"""
         redis = None
         try:
-            redis = await aioredis.from_url(
-                redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
-            )
+            redis = await self.get_redis_client(redis_url)
             # test connection
             await redis.ping()
             return redis
 
         # pylint: disable=bare-except
         except:
+            if redis:
+                await redis.close()
+
             return None
 
     async def check_if_finished(self, crawl, status):
@@ -512,16 +517,16 @@ async def sync_crawl_state(self, redis_url, crawl, status, pods):
             status.resync_after = self.fast_retry_secs
             return status
 
-        # set state to running (if not already)
-        if status.state not in RUNNING_STATES:
-            await self.set_state(
-                "running",
-                status,
-                crawl.id,
-                allowed_from=["starting", "waiting_capacity"],
-            )
-
         try:
+            # set state to running (if not already)
+            if status.state not in RUNNING_STATES:
+                await self.set_state(
+                    "running",
+                    status,
+                    crawl.id,
+                    allowed_from=["starting", "waiting_capacity"],
+                )
+
             file_done = await redis.lpop(self.done_key)
 
             while file_done:
@@ -547,6 +552,9 @@ async def sync_crawl_state(self, redis_url, crawl, status, pods):
             print(f"Crawl get failed: {exc}, will try again")
             return status
 
+        finally:
+            await redis.close()
+
     def check_if_pods_running(self, pods):
         """check if at least one crawler pod has started"""
         try:
diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 38a1ef60dd..46f718efa2 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ loguru
 aiofiles
 kubernetes-asyncio==22.6.5
 aiobotocore
-redis>=4.2.0rc1
+redis>=5.0.0rc2
 pyyaml
 jinja2
 humanize