diff --git a/lib/que/adapters/active_record.rb b/lib/que/adapters/active_record.rb
index 0fbcb601..c6d5f46e 100644
--- a/lib/que/adapters/active_record.rb
+++ b/lib/que/adapters/active_record.rb
@@ -3,10 +3,15 @@
 module Que
   module Adapters
     class ActiveRecord < Base
+      AR_UNAVAILABLE_CONNECTION_ERRORS = [
+        ::ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError,
+        ::ActiveRecord::ConnectionNotEstablished,
+      ].freeze
+
       def checkout
         checkout_activerecord_adapter { |conn| yield conn.raw_connection }
-      rescue ::ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError => e
-        raise UnavailableConnection
+      rescue *AR_UNAVAILABLE_CONNECTION_ERRORS => e
+        raise UnavailableConnection.new(e)
       end
 
       def wake_worker_after_commit
diff --git a/spec/lib/que/worker_spec.rb b/spec/lib/que/worker_spec.rb
index a93a5c30..a3e24ed8 100644
--- a/spec/lib/que/worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/que/worker_spec.rb
@@ -125,13 +125,24 @@
         end
       end
 
-      context "when we can't checkout a new connection" do
+      context "when we time out checking out a new connection" do
         it "rescues it and returns an error" do
           FakeJob.enqueue(1)
 
           expect(Que).
             to receive(:execute).with(:lock_job, ["default", 0]).
-              and_raise(ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError)
+            and_raise(ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError)
+          expect(subject).to eq(:postgres_error)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context "when we can't connect to postgres" do
+        it "rescues it and returns an error" do
+          FakeJob.enqueue(1)
+
+          expect(Que).
+            to receive(:execute).with(:lock_job, ["default", 0]).
+            and_raise(ActiveRecord::ConnectionNotEstablished)
           expect(subject).to eq(:postgres_error)
         end
       end