diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
index 04a46e5906d..bea701b9ab4 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool.go
@@ -435,13 +435,9 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) pop(stack *connStack[C]) *Pooled[C] {
 	// to expire this connection (even if it's still visible to them), so it's
 	// safe to return it
 	for conn, ok := stack.Pop(); ok; conn, ok = stack.Pop() {
-		if !conn.timeUsed.borrow() {
-			// Ignore the connection that couldn't be borrowed;
-			// it's being closed by the idle worker and replaced by a new connection.
-			continue
+		if conn.timeUsed.borrow() {
+			return conn
 		}
-
-		return conn
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -746,23 +742,11 @@ func (pool *ConnPool[C]) closeIdleResources(now time.Time) {
 		for conn := s.Peek(); conn != nil; conn = conn.next.Load() {
 			if conn.timeUsed.expired(mono, timeout) {
 				pool.Metrics.idleClosed.Add(1)
-
 				conn.Close()
-				pool.closedConn()
-
 				// Using context.Background() is fine since MySQL connection already enforces
 				// a connect timeout via the `db_connect_timeout_ms` config param.
-				c, err := pool.getNew(context.Background())
-				if err != nil {
-					// If we couldn't open a new connection, just continue
-					continue
-				}
-
-				// opening a new connection might have raced with other goroutines,
-				// so it's possible that we got back `nil` here
-				if c != nil {
-					// Return the new connection to the pool
-					pool.tryReturnConn(c)
+				if err := pool.connReopen(context.Background(), conn, mono); err != nil {
+					pool.closedConn()
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
index 4a40987ae5b..d2055e6397d 100644
--- a/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
+++ b/go/pools/smartconnpool/pool_test.go
@@ -1280,88 +1280,3 @@ func TestCloseDuringWaitForConn(t *testing.T) {
 		require.EqualValues(t, 0, state.open.Load())
 	}
 }
-
-// TestIdleTimeoutConnectionLeak checks for leaked connections after idle timeout
-func TestIdleTimeoutConnectionLeak(t *testing.T) {
-	var state TestState
-
-	// Slow connection creation to ensure idle timeout happens during reopening
-	state.chaos.delayConnect = 300 * time.Millisecond
-
-	p := NewPool(&Config[*TestConn]{
-		Capacity:    2,
-		IdleTimeout: 50 * time.Millisecond,
-		LogWait:     state.LogWait,
-	}).Open(newConnector(&state), nil)
-
-	getCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 500*time.Millisecond)
-	defer cancel()
-
-	// Get and return two connections
-	conn1, err := p.Get(getCtx, nil)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	conn2, err := p.Get(getCtx, nil)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	p.put(conn1)
-	p.put(conn2)
-
-	// At this point: Active=2, InUse=0, Available=2
-	require.EqualValues(t, 2, p.Active())
-	require.EqualValues(t, 0, p.InUse())
-	require.EqualValues(t, 2, p.Available())
-
-	// Wait for idle timeout to kick in and start expiring connections
-	require.EventuallyWithT(t, func(c *assert.CollectT) {
-		// Check the actual number of currently open connections
-		assert.Equal(c, int64(2), state.open.Load())
-		// Check the total number of closed connections
-		assert.Equal(c, int64(1), state.close.Load())
-	}, 100*time.Millisecond, 10*time.Millisecond)
-
-	// At this point, the idle timeout worker has expired the connections
-	// and is trying to reopen them (which takes 300ms due to delayConnect)
-
-	// Try to get connections while they're being reopened
-	// This should trigger the bug where connections get discarded
-	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
-		getCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 50*time.Millisecond)
-		defer cancel()
-
-		conn, err := p.Get(getCtx, nil)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		p.put(conn)
-	}
-
-	// Wait a moment for all reopening to complete
-	require.EventuallyWithT(t, func(c *assert.CollectT) {
-		// Check the actual number of currently open connections
-		require.Equal(c, int64(2), state.open.Load())
-		// Check the total number of closed connections
-		require.Equal(c, int64(2), state.close.Load())
-	}, 400*time.Millisecond, 10*time.Millisecond)
-
-	// Check the pool state
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(2), p.Active())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(0), p.InUse())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(2), p.Available())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(2), p.Metrics.IdleClosed())
-
-	// Try to close the pool - if there are leaked connections, this will timeout
-	closeCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 500*time.Millisecond)
-	defer cancel()
-
-	err = p.CloseWithContext(closeCtx)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// Pool should be completely closed now
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(0), p.Active())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(0), p.InUse())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(0), p.Available())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(2), p.Metrics.IdleClosed())
-
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(0), state.open.Load())
-	assert.Equal(t, int64(4), state.close.Load())
-}