diff --git a/stac_api/runtime/tests/conftest.py b/stac_api/runtime/tests/conftest.py
index dc349055..6c3c3074 100644
--- a/stac_api/runtime/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/stac_api/runtime/tests/conftest.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 import pytest
 from httpx import ASGITransport, AsyncClient
 
+from stac_fastapi.pgstac.db import close_db_connection, connect_to_db
+
 VALID_COLLECTION = {
     "id": "CMIP245-winter-median-pr",
     "type": "Collection",
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@
 }
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def test_environ():
     """
     Set up the test environment with mocked AWS and PostgreSQL credentials.
@@ -250,7 +252,7 @@ def override_validated_token():
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def app(test_environ):
+async def app():
     """
     Fixture to initialize the FastAPI application.
 
@@ -265,7 +267,9 @@ def app(test_environ):
     """
     from src.app import app
 
-    return app
+    await connect_to_db(app)
+    yield app
+    await close_db_connection(app)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
diff --git a/stac_api/runtime/tests/test_transactions.py b/stac_api/runtime/tests/test_transactions.py
index 6a5cd8e3..4961f287 100644
--- a/stac_api/runtime/tests/test_transactions.py
+++ b/stac_api/runtime/tests/test_transactions.py
@@ -53,59 +53,59 @@ def setup(
         self.invalid_stac_collection = invalid_stac_collection
         self.invalid_stac_item = invalid_stac_item
 
-    def test_post_invalid_collection(self):
+    async def test_post_invalid_collection(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting an invalid STAC collection.
 
         Asserts that the response status code is 422 and the detail
         is "Validation Error".
         """
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             collections_endpoint, json=self.invalid_stac_collection
         )
         assert response.json()["detail"] == "Validation Error"
         assert response.status_code == 422
 
-    def test_post_valid_collection(self):
+    async def test_post_valid_collection(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting a valid STAC collection.
 
         Asserts that the response status code is 200.
         """
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             collections_endpoint, json=self.valid_stac_collection
         )
         # assert response.json() == {}
         assert response.status_code == 200
 
-    def test_post_invalid_item(self):
+    async def test_post_invalid_item(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting an invalid STAC item.
 
         Asserts that the response status code is 422 and the detail
         is "Validation Error".
         """
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             items_endpoint.format(self.invalid_stac_item["collection"]),
             json=self.invalid_stac_item,
         )
         assert response.json()["detail"] == "Validation Error"
         assert response.status_code == 422
 
-    def test_post_valid_item(self):
+    async def test_post_valid_item(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting a valid STAC item.
 
         Asserts that the response status code is 200.
         """
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             items_endpoint.format(self.valid_stac_item["collection"]),
             json=self.valid_stac_item,
         )
         # assert response.json() == {}
         assert response.status_code == 200
 
-    def test_post_invalid_bulk_items(self):
+    async def test_post_invalid_bulk_items(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting invalid bulk STAC items.
 
@@ -117,12 +117,12 @@ def test_post_invalid_bulk_items(self):
             "items": {item_id: self.invalid_stac_item},
             "method": "upsert",
         }
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             bulk_endpoint.format(collection_id), json=invalid_request
         )
         assert response.status_code == 422
 
-    def test_post_valid_bulk_items(self):
+    async def test_post_valid_bulk_items(self):
         """
         Test the API's response to posting valid bulk STAC items.
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def test_post_valid_bulk_items(self):
         item_id = self.valid_stac_item["id"]
         collection_id = self.valid_stac_item["collection"]
         valid_request = {"items": {item_id: self.valid_stac_item}, "method": "upsert"}
-        response = self.api_client.post(
+        response = await self.api_client.post(
             bulk_endpoint.format(collection_id), json=valid_request
         )
         assert response.status_code == 200