diff --git a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder.go b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder.go
index 247498d19835..4aaff1ae7381 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder.go
@@ -202,6 +202,8 @@ func (f *forwarder) Context() context.Context {
 //
 // Close implements the balancer.ConnectionHandle interface.
 func (f *forwarder) Close() {
+	// Cancelling the forwarder's context and connections will automatically
+	// cause the processors to exit, and close themselves.
 	f.ctxCancel()
 
 	// Whenever Close is called while both of the processors are suspended, the
@@ -389,7 +391,10 @@ func makeLogicalClockFn() func() uint64 {
 // cancellation of dials.
 var aLongTimeAgo = timeutil.Unix(1, 0)
 
-var errProcessorResumed = errors.New("processor has already been resumed")
+var (
+	errProcessorResumed = errors.New("processor has already been resumed")
+	errProcessorClosed  = errors.New("processor has been closed")
+)
 
 // processor must always be constructed through newProcessor.
 type processor struct {
@@ -402,6 +407,7 @@ type processor struct {
 	mu struct {
 		syncutil.Mutex
 		cond       *sync.Cond
+		closed     bool
 		resumed    bool
 		inPeek     bool
 		suspendReq bool // Indicates that a suspend has been requested.
@@ -424,13 +430,15 @@ func newProcessor(logicalClockFn func() uint64, src, dst *interceptor.PGConn) *p
 
 // resume starts the processor and blocks during the processing. When the
 // processing has been terminated, this returns nil if the processor can be
-// resumed again in the future. If an error (except errProcessorResumed) was
-// returned, the processor should not be resumed again, and the forwarder should
-// be closed.
-func (p *processor) resume(ctx context.Context) error {
+// resumed again in the future. If an error was returned, the processor should
+// not be resumed again, and the forwarder must be closed.
+func (p *processor) resume(ctx context.Context) (retErr error) {
 	enterResume := func() error {
 		p.mu.Lock()
 		defer p.mu.Unlock()
+		if p.mu.closed {
+			return errProcessorClosed
+		}
 		if p.mu.resumed {
 			return errProcessorResumed
 		}
@@ -441,6 +449,10 @@ func (p *processor) resume(ctx context.Context) error {
 	exitResume := func() {
 		p.mu.Lock()
 		defer p.mu.Unlock()
+		// If there's an error, close the processor.
+		if retErr != nil {
+			p.mu.closed = true
+		}
 		p.mu.resumed = false
 		p.mu.cond.Broadcast()
 	}
@@ -495,6 +507,9 @@ func (p *processor) resume(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	if err := enterResume(); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, errProcessorResumed) {
+			return nil
+		}
 		return err
 	}
 	defer exitResume()
@@ -524,6 +539,9 @@ func (p *processor) waitResumed(ctx context.Context) error {
 		if ctx.Err() != nil {
 			return ctx.Err()
 		}
+		if p.mu.closed {
+			return errProcessorClosed
+		}
 		p.mu.cond.Wait()
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -536,6 +554,11 @@ func (p *processor) suspend(ctx context.Context) error {
 	p.mu.Lock()
 	defer p.mu.Unlock()
 
+	// If the processor has been closed, it cannot be suspended at all.
+	if p.mu.closed {
+		return errProcessorClosed
+	}
+
 	defer func() {
 		if p.mu.suspendReq {
 			p.mu.suspendReq = false
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder_test.go b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder_test.go
index a9e32f37e8f1..848bd46c9191 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/forwarder_test.go
@@ -521,12 +521,15 @@ func TestSuspendResumeProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 			interceptor.NewPGConn(serverProxy),
 		)
 		require.EqualError(t, p.resume(ctx), context.Canceled.Error())
+		p.mu.Lock()
+		require.True(t, p.mu.closed)
+		p.mu.Unlock()
 
 		// Set resumed to true to simulate suspend loop.
 		p.mu.Lock()
 		p.mu.resumed = true
 		p.mu.Unlock()
-		require.EqualError(t, p.suspend(ctx), context.Canceled.Error())
+		require.EqualError(t, p.suspend(ctx), errProcessorClosed.Error())
 	})
 
 	t.Run("wait_for_resumed", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -586,15 +589,15 @@ func TestSuspendResumeProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 			interceptor.NewPGConn(serverProxy),
 		)
 
-		// Ensure that everything will return a resumed error except 1.
+		// Ensure that two resume calls will return right away.
 		errCh := make(chan error, 2)
 		go func() { errCh <- p.resume(ctx) }()
 		go func() { errCh <- p.resume(ctx) }()
 		go func() { errCh <- p.resume(ctx) }()
 		err := <-errCh
-		require.EqualError(t, err, errProcessorResumed.Error())
+		require.NoError(t, err)
 		err = <-errCh
-		require.EqualError(t, err, errProcessorResumed.Error())
+		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// Suspend the last goroutine.
 		err = p.waitResumed(ctx)
@@ -604,7 +607,7 @@ func TestSuspendResumeProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Validate suspension.
 		err = <-errCh
-		require.Nil(t, err)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
 		p.mu.Lock()
 		require.False(t, p.mu.resumed)
 		require.False(t, p.mu.inPeek)
@@ -694,10 +697,7 @@ func TestSuspendResumeProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 		// Wait until all resume calls except 1 have returned.
 		for i := 0; i < concurrency-1; i++ {
 			err := <-errResumeCh
-			// If error is not nil, it has to be an already resumed error.
-			if err != nil {
-				require.EqualError(t, err, errProcessorResumed.Error())
-			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
 		}
 
 		// Wait until the last one returns. We can guarantee that this is for
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler.go b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler.go
index 4f13591a54db..31dba30c3c4d 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler.go
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ func (handler *proxyHandler) handle(ctx context.Context, incomingConn *proxyConn
 	if err := f.run(fe.Conn, crdbConn); err != nil {
 		// Don't send to the client here for the same reason below.
 		handler.metrics.updateForError(err)
-		return err
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "running forwarder")
 	}
 
 	// Block until an error is received, or when the stopper starts quiescing,
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler_test.go b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler_test.go
index b83b8c11d9f4..6e9ac3ed6c32 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/sqlproxyccl/proxy_handler_test.go
@@ -1325,6 +1325,76 @@ func TestConnectionMigration(t *testing.T) {
 	}, 10*time.Second, 100*time.Millisecond)
 }
 
+// TestCurConnCountMetric ensures that the CurConnCount metric is accurate.
+// Previously, there was a regression where the CurConnCount metric wasn't
+// decremented whenever the connections were closed due to a goroutine leak.
+func TestCurConnCountMetric(t *testing.T) {
+	defer leaktest.AfterTest(t)()
+	defer log.Scope(t).Close(t)
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	// Start KV server.
+	params, _ := tests.CreateTestServerParams()
+	s, _, _ := serverutils.StartServer(t, params)
+	defer s.Stopper().Stop(ctx)
+
+	// Start a single SQL pod.
+	tenantID := serverutils.TestTenantID()
+	tenants := startTestTenantPods(ctx, t, s, tenantID, 1)
+	defer func() {
+		for _, tenant := range tenants {
+			tenant.Stopper().Stop(ctx)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// Register the SQL pod in the directory server.
+	tds := tenantdirsvr.NewTestStaticDirectoryServer(s.Stopper(), nil /* timeSource */)
+	tds.CreateTenant(tenantID, "tenant-cluster")
+	tds.AddPod(tenantID, &tenant.Pod{
+		TenantID:       tenantID.ToUint64(),
+		Addr:           tenants[0].SQLAddr(),
+		State:          tenant.RUNNING,
+		StateTimestamp: timeutil.Now(),
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, tds.Start(ctx))
+
+	opts := &ProxyOptions{SkipVerify: true, DisableConnectionRebalancing: true}
+	opts.testingKnobs.directoryServer = tds
+	proxy, addr := newSecureProxyServer(ctx, t, s.Stopper(), opts)
+	connectionString := fmt.Sprintf("postgres://testuser:hunter2@%s/?sslmode=require&options=--cluster=tenant-cluster-%s", addr, tenantID)
+
+	// Open 500 connections to the SQL pod.
+	const numConns = 500
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(numConns)
+	for i := 0; i < numConns; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+
+			// Opens a new connection, runs SELECT 1, and closes it right away.
+			// Ignore all connection errors.
+			conn, err := pgx.Connect(ctx, connectionString)
+			if err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			_ = conn.Ping(ctx)
+			_ = conn.Close(ctx)
+		}()
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+
+	// Ensure that the CurConnCount metric gets decremented to 0 whenever all
+	// the connections are closed.
+	testutils.SucceedsSoon(t, func() error {
+		val := proxy.metrics.CurConnCount.Value()
+		if val == 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return errors.Newf("expected CurConnCount=0, but got %d", val)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestClusterNameAndTenantFromParams(t *testing.T) {
 	defer leaktest.AfterTest(t)()
 	defer log.Scope(t).Close(t)