diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.c b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.c
index af8bc6f68..72c43c10d 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.c
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.c
@@ -776,8 +776,6 @@ int get_users_from_server(MYSQL *con, SERVER_REF *server, SERVICE *service, SERV
 
             if (result)
             {
-                start_sqlite_transaction(instance->handle);
-
                 MYSQL_ROW row;
 
                 while ((row = mysql_fetch_row(result)))
@@ -804,8 +802,6 @@ int get_users_from_server(MYSQL *con, SERVER_REF *server, SERVICE *service, SERV
                     }
                 }
 
-                commit_sqlite_transaction(instance->handle);
-
                 mysql_free_result(result);
             }
         }
@@ -874,6 +870,7 @@ static int get_users(SERV_LISTENER *listener, bool skip_local)
 
     /** Delete the old users */
     MYSQL_AUTH *instance = (MYSQL_AUTH*)listener->auth_instance;
+    start_sqlite_transaction(instance->handle);
     delete_mysql_users(instance->handle);
 
     SERVER_REF *server = service->dbref;
@@ -921,6 +918,8 @@ static int get_users(SERV_LISTENER *listener, bool skip_local)
         }
     }
 
+    commit_sqlite_transaction(instance->handle);
+
     MXS_FREE(dpwd);
 
     if (no_active_servers)
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.c b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.c
index 672abd1d1..53b23363a 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.c
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.c
@@ -129,25 +129,41 @@ static void get_database_path(SERV_LISTENER *port, char *dest, size_t size)
 
 static bool open_instance_database(const char *path, sqlite3 **handle)
 {
+    bool rval = true;
+
     if (sqlite3_open_v2(path, handle, db_flags, NULL) != SQLITE_OK)
     {
         MXS_ERROR("Failed to open SQLite3 handle.");
-        return false;
+        rval = false;
     }
-
-    char *err;
-
-    if (sqlite3_exec(*handle, users_create_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK ||
-        sqlite3_exec(*handle, databases_create_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK ||
-        sqlite3_exec(*handle, pragma_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK)
+    else
     {
-        MXS_ERROR("Failed to create database: %s", err);
-        sqlite3_free(err);
-        sqlite3_close_v2(*handle);
-        return false;
+        char *err;
+
+        if (sqlite3_exec(*handle, users_create_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK ||
+            sqlite3_exec(*handle, databases_create_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK)
+        {
+            MXS_ERROR("Failed to create database: %s", err);
+            sqlite3_free(err);
+            sqlite3_close_v2(*handle);
+            rval = false;
+        }
+        else if (sqlite3_exec(*handle, pragma_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK)
+        {
+            sqlite3_free(err);
+            MXS_NOTICE("Could not open SQLite database in WAL mode, using in-memory mode");
+
+            if (sqlite3_exec(*handle, old_pragma_sql, NULL, NULL, &err) != SQLITE_OK)
+            {
+                MXS_ERROR("Failed to set in-memory mode: %s", err);
+                sqlite3_free(err);
+                sqlite3_close_v2(*handle);
+                rval = false;
+            }
+        }
     }
 
-    return true;
+    return rval;
 }
 
 static bool open_client_database(const char *path, sqlite3 **handle)
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.h b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.h
index ae289e202..2de5926f5 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.h
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/mysql_auth.h
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@ static const char databases_create_sql[] =
     "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS " MYSQLAUTH_DATABASES_TABLE_NAME "(db varchar(255))";
 
 /** PRAGMA configuration options for SQLite */
-static const char pragma_sql[] = "PRAGMA JOURNAL_MODE=MEMORY";
+static const char pragma_sql[]     = "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL";
+static const char old_pragma_sql[] = "PRAGMA journal_mode=MEMORY";
 
 /** Query that checks if there's a grant for the user being authenticated */
 static const char mysqlauth_validate_user_query[] =