diff --git a/djongo/base.py b/djongo/base.py
index ba6766d7..7a1d5165 100644
--- a/djongo/base.py
+++ b/djongo/base.py
@@ -169,9 +169,6 @@ def get_new_connection(self, connection_params):
         # To prevent leaving unclosed connections behind,
         # client_conn must be closed before a new connection
         # is created.
-        if self.client_connection is not None:
-            self.client_connection.close()
-            logger.debug('Existing MongoClient connection closed')
 
         self.client_connection = Database.connect(db=name, **connection_params)
         logger.debug('New Database connection')
diff --git a/djongo/database.py b/djongo/database.py
index 79ecf283..15d01cd1 100644
--- a/djongo/database.py
+++ b/djongo/database.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 def connect(db, **kwargs):
     logger.debug('New MongoClient connection')
-    clients[db] = MongoClient(**kwargs, connect=False)
+    clients[db] = MongoClient(**kwargs, connect=True)
     return clients[db]
 
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index cb8a4ea4..e3312679 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # THIS FILE WAS CHANGED ON - 19 Aug 2022
 
-sqlparse==0.4.4
+sqlparse~=0.5.0
 pymongo>=3.6.0,<4.0
 django>=3.2
  # requirements.txt
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 41d0157f..292fa5e3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def find_version(*file_paths):
 
 
 install_requires = [
-    'sqlparse==0.4.4',
+    'sqlparse~=0.5.0',
     'pymongo>=3.6.0',
     'django>=3.2',
 ]