diff --git a/backend/open_webui/internal/db.py b/backend/open_webui/internal/db.py
index 7c890e0ca2..acce09ed6d 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/internal/db.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/internal/db.py
@@ -370,6 +370,8 @@ if sys.platform == 'win32' and _is_postgres_url(DATABASE_URL):
 
 if 'sqlite' in ASYNC_SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL:
     # Generous default — async coroutines + no session sharing = high connection demand.
+    # No pool_pre_ping: a local SQLite file cannot drop connections, and the
+    # ping costs a worker-thread hop plus a SELECT 1 on every checkout.
     _sqlite_pool_size = DATABASE_POOL_SIZE if isinstance(DATABASE_POOL_SIZE, int) and DATABASE_POOL_SIZE > 0 else 512
     async_engine = create_async_engine(
         ASYNC_SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL,
@@ -377,7 +379,6 @@ if 'sqlite' in ASYNC_SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL:
         pool_size=_sqlite_pool_size,
         pool_timeout=DATABASE_POOL_TIMEOUT,
         pool_recycle=DATABASE_POOL_RECYCLE,
-        pool_pre_ping=True,
     )
 
     @event.listens_for(async_engine.sync_engine, 'connect')
diff --git a/backend/open_webui/utils/asgi_middleware.py b/backend/open_webui/utils/asgi_middleware.py
index 7189bfcad8..2c3412df48 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/utils/asgi_middleware.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/utils/asgi_middleware.py
@@ -100,14 +100,20 @@ class CommitSessionMiddleware:
             # Downstream did not complete successfully. Roll back any
             # pending sync writes, release the connection, and let the
             # exception propagate.
-            try:
-                ScopedSession.rollback()
-            except Exception:
-                log.exception('CommitSessionMiddleware: rollback failed after downstream error')
-            finally:
-                ScopedSession.remove()
+            if ScopedSession.registry.has():
+                try:
+                    ScopedSession.rollback()
+                except Exception:
+                    log.exception('CommitSessionMiddleware: rollback failed after downstream error')
+                finally:
+                    ScopedSession.remove()
             raise
 
+        # Nothing in this request touched the sync session: committing would
+        # only instantiate one to run an empty transaction.
+        if not ScopedSession.registry.has():
+            return
+
         # Downstream completed. Commit pending sync work.
         try:
             ScopedSession.commit()