diff --git a/auth/conn_reauth_credentials_listener.go b/auth/conn_reauth_credentials_listener.go
index acbd67ac..5b9711d5 100644
--- a/auth/conn_reauth_credentials_listener.go
+++ b/auth/conn_reauth_credentials_listener.go
@@ -48,22 +48,37 @@ func (c *ConnReAuthCredentialsListener) OnNext(credentials Credentials) {
 	// this is important because the connection pool may be in the process of reconnecting the connection
 	// and we don't want to interfere with that process
 	// but we also don't want to block for too long, so incorporate a timeout
-compandswap:
-	for !c.conn.Usable.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
+	for err == nil && !c.conn.Usable.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
 		select {
 		case <-timeout:
 			err = pool.ErrConnUnusableTimeout
-			break compandswap
 		default:
 			runtime.Gosched()
 		}
 	}
+	if err == nil {
+		defer c.conn.SetUsable(true)
+	}
+
+	for err == nil && !c.conn.Used.CompareAndSwap(false, true) {
+		select {
+		case <-timeout:
+			err = pool.ErrConnUnusableTimeout
+		default:
+			runtime.Gosched()
+		}
+	}
+
+	// we timed out waiting for the connection to be usable
+	// do not try to re-authenticate, instead call the onErr function
+	// which will handle the error and close the connection if needed
 	if err != nil {
 		c.OnError(err)
 		return
 	}
+
+	defer c.conn.Used.Store(false)
 	// we set the usable flag, so restore it back to usable after we're done
-	defer c.conn.SetUsable(true)
 	if err = c.reAuth(c.conn, credentials); err != nil {
 		c.OnError(err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/pool/conn.go b/internal/pool/conn.go
index 636be9bc..e1bc4124 100644
--- a/internal/pool/conn.go
+++ b/internal/pool/conn.go
@@ -57,7 +57,32 @@ type Conn struct {
 	// Only used for the brief period during SetNetConn and HasBufferedData/PeekReplyTypeSafe
 	readerMu sync.RWMutex
 
+	// Design note:
+	// Why have both Usable and Used?
+	// _Usable_ is used to mark a connection as safe for use by clients, the connection can still
+	// be in the pool but not Usable at the moment (e.g. handoff in progress).
+	// _Used_ is used to mark a connection as used when a command is going to be processed on that connection.
+	// this is going to happen once the connection is picked from the pool.
+	//
+	// If a background operation needs to use the connection, it will mark it as Not Usable and only use it when it
+	// is not in use. That way, the connection won't be used to send multiple commands at the same time and
+	// potentially corrupt the command stream.
+
+	// Usable flag to mark connection as safe for use
+	// It is false before initialization and after a handoff is marked
+	// It will be false during other background operations like re-authentication
 	Usable atomic.Bool
+
+	// Used flag to mark connection as used when a command is going to be
+	// processed on that connection. This is used to prevent a race condition with
+	// background operations that may execute commands, like re-authentication.
+	Used atomic.Bool
+
+	// Inited flag to mark connection as initialized, this is almost the same as usable
+	// but it is used to make sure we don't initialize a network connection twice
+	// On handoff, the network connection is replaced, but the Conn struct is reused
+	// this flag will be set to false when the network connection is replaced and
+	// set to true after the new network connection is initialized
 	Inited atomic.Bool
 
 	pooled    bool
@@ -456,7 +481,7 @@ func (cn *Conn) MarkQueuedForHandoff() error {
 	const maxRetries = 50
 	const baseDelay = time.Microsecond
 
-	connAquired := false
+	connAcquired := false
 	for attempt := 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++ {
 		// If CAS failed, add exponential backoff to reduce contention
 		// the delay will be 1, 2, 4... up to 512 microseconds
@@ -468,10 +493,10 @@ func (cn *Conn) MarkQueuedForHandoff() error {
 
 		// first we need to mark the connection as not usable
 		// to prevent the pool from returning it to the caller
-		if !connAquired && !cn.Usable.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
+		if !connAcquired && !cn.Usable.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
 			continue
 		}
-		connAquired = true
+		connAcquired = true
 
 		currentState := cn.getHandoffState()
 		// Check if marked for handoff
@@ -539,7 +564,8 @@ func (cn *Conn) ClearHandoffState() {
 	// Atomically set clean state
 	cn.setHandoffState(cleanState)
 	cn.setHandoffRetries(0)
-	cn.setUsable(true) // Connection is safe to use again after handoff completes
+	// Clearing handoff state also means the connection is usable again
+	cn.setUsable(true)
 }
 
 // IncrementAndGetHandoffRetries atomically increments and returns handoff retries (lock-free).
diff --git a/internal/pool/pool.go b/internal/pool/pool.go
index 83acb6ff..96bbb6db 100644
--- a/internal/pool/pool.go
+++ b/internal/pool/pool.go
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ func (p *ConnPool) addIdleConn() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
 	// Mark connection as usable after successful creation
 	// This is essential for normal pool operations
 	cn.SetUsable(true)
@@ -280,6 +281,7 @@ func (p *ConnPool) newConn(ctx context.Context, pooled bool) (*Conn, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
 	// Mark connection as usable after successful creation
 	// This is essential for normal pool operations
 	cn.SetUsable(true)
@@ -571,8 +573,10 @@ func (p *ConnPool) popIdle() (*Conn, error) {
 		attempts++
 
 		if cn.IsUsable() {
-			p.idleConnsLen.Add(-1)
-			break
+			if cn.Used.CompareAndSwap(false, true) {
+				p.idleConnsLen.Add(-1)
+				break
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Connection is not usable, put it back in the pool
@@ -667,6 +671,12 @@ func (p *ConnPool) Put(ctx context.Context, cn *Conn) {
 		shouldCloseConn = true
 	}
 
+	// Mark connection as not used only
+	// if it's not being closed
+	if !shouldCloseConn {
+		cn.Used.Store(false)
+	}
+
 	p.freeTurn()
 
 	if shouldCloseConn {
diff --git a/internal/pool/pool_single.go b/internal/pool/pool_single.go
index 136d6f2d..6f73e539 100644
--- a/internal/pool/pool_single.go
+++ b/internal/pool/pool_single.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package pool
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type SingleConnPool struct {
@@ -31,12 +32,26 @@ func (p *SingleConnPool) Get(ctx context.Context) (*Conn, error) {
 	if p.stickyErr != nil {
 		return nil, p.stickyErr
 	}
+	if p.cn == nil {
+		return nil, ErrClosed
+	}
+	p.cn.Used.Store(true)
+	p.cn.SetUsedAt(time.Now())
 	return p.cn, nil
 }
 
-func (p *SingleConnPool) Put(ctx context.Context, cn *Conn) {}
+func (p *SingleConnPool) Put(ctx context.Context, cn *Conn) {
+	if p.cn == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if p.cn != cn {
+		return
+	}
+	p.cn.Used.Store(false)
+}
 
 func (p *SingleConnPool) Remove(ctx context.Context, cn *Conn, reason error) {
+	cn.Used.Store(false)
 	p.cn = nil
 	p.stickyErr = reason
 }
diff --git a/maintnotifications/handoff_worker.go b/maintnotifications/handoff_worker.go
index 61dc1e17..dce984c7 100644
--- a/maintnotifications/handoff_worker.go
+++ b/maintnotifications/handoff_worker.go
@@ -378,8 +378,12 @@ func (hwm *handoffWorkerManager) performConnectionHandoff(ctx context.Context, c
 }
 
 // performHandoffInternal performs the actual handoff logic (extracted for circuit breaker integration)
-func (hwm *handoffWorkerManager) performHandoffInternal(ctx context.Context, conn *pool.Conn, newEndpoint string, connID uint64) (shouldRetry bool, err error) {
-
+func (hwm *handoffWorkerManager) performHandoffInternal(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	conn *pool.Conn,
+	newEndpoint string,
+	connID uint64,
+) (shouldRetry bool, err error) {
 	retries := conn.IncrementAndGetHandoffRetries(1)
 	internal.Logger.Printf(ctx, logs.HandoffRetryAttempt(connID, retries, newEndpoint, conn.RemoteAddr().String()))
 	maxRetries := 3 // Default fallback
@@ -438,9 +442,14 @@ func (hwm *handoffWorkerManager) performHandoffInternal(ctx context.Context, con
 		}
 	}()
 
+	// Clear handoff state will:
+	// - set the connection as usable again
+	// - clear the handoff state (shouldHandoff, endpoint, seqID)
+	// - reset the handoff retries to 0
 	conn.ClearHandoffState()
 	internal.Logger.Printf(ctx, logs.HandoffSucceeded(connID, newEndpoint))
 
+	// successfully completed the handoff, no retry needed and no error
 	return false, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/redis.go b/redis.go
index fa3b758b..03bbf239 100644
--- a/redis.go
+++ b/redis.go
@@ -549,6 +549,7 @@ func (c *baseClient) initConn(ctx context.Context, cn *pool.Conn) error {
 	// mark the connection as usable and inited
 	// once returned to the pool as idle, this connection can be used by other clients
 	cn.SetUsable(true)
+	cn.Used.Store(false)
 	cn.Inited.Store(true)
 
 	// Set the connection initialization function for potential reconnections