diff --git a/postgres/changelog.d/23640.fixed b/postgres/changelog.d/23640.fixed
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..92778f0dd54ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postgres/changelog.d/23640.fixed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Close dangling connections and break reference cycles on check cancel to reduce memory retention when checks are restarted or rescheduled
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/data_observability.py b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/data_observability.py
index 6f4107b29e5ab..5dce7eabb5b01 100644
--- a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/data_observability.py
+++ b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/data_observability.py
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ def __init__(self, check: PostgreSql, config: InstanceConfig):
             job_name="data-observability",
         )
 
+    def _shutdown(self):
+        self._check = None
+
     @property
     def _do_config(self):
         return self._config.data_observability
diff --git a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/metadata.py b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/metadata.py
index cd341d12b23e5..d8a2959754291 100644
--- a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/metadata.py
+++ b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/metadata.py
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@ def __init__(self, check: PostgreSql, config: InstanceConfig):
         )
         self._check = check
         self._config = config
-        self.db_pool = self._check.db_pool
         self._collect_pg_settings_enabled = config.collect_settings.enabled
         self._collect_extensions_enabled = self._collect_pg_settings_enabled
         self._collect_schemas_enabled = config.collect_schemas.enabled
@@ -122,6 +121,11 @@ def __init__(self, check: PostgreSql, config: InstanceConfig):
         self._tags_no_db = None
         self.tags = None
 
+    def _shutdown(self):
+        self._check = None
+        self._schema_collector = None
+        self._compiled_patterns_cache = None
+
     def _dbtags(self, db, *extra_tags):
         """
         Returns the default instance tags with the initial "db" tag replaced with the provided tag
diff --git a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/postgres.py b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/postgres.py
index 0d9223662d657..caab366180792 100644
--- a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/postgres.py
+++ b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/postgres.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from datadog_checks.base.utils.db.core import QueryManager
 from datadog_checks.base.utils.db.health import HealthEvent, HealthStatus
 from datadog_checks.base.utils.db.utils import (
+    DBMAsyncJob,
     default_json_event_encoding,
     tracked_query,
 )
@@ -301,6 +302,15 @@ def execute_query_raw(self, query, db):
                 rows = cursor.fetchall()
                 return rows
 
+    def _close_db(self):
+        if self._db:
+            try:
+                self._db.close()
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+            finally:
+                self._db = None
+
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def db(self):
         """
@@ -321,12 +331,7 @@ def db(self):
             self.log.warning(
                 "Connection to the database %s has been interrupted, closing connection", self._config.dbname
             )
-            try:
-                self._db.close()
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-            finally:
-                self._db = None
+            self._close_db()
             raise
         except Exception:
             self.log.exception("Unhandled exception while using database connection %s", self._config.dbname)
@@ -468,29 +473,38 @@ def dynamic_queries(self):
 
         return self._dynamic_queries
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _cancel_async_job(job: DBMAsyncJob):
+        job.cancel()
+        if job._job_loop_future:
+            job._job_loop_future.result()
+            job._job_loop_future = None
+        job._shutdown()
+
     def cancel(self):
         """
         Cancels and sends cancel signal to all threads.
         """
         if self._config.dbm:
-            self.statement_samples.cancel()
-            self.statement_metrics.cancel()
-            self.metadata_samples.cancel()
-            if self.statement_metrics._job_loop_future:
-                self.statement_metrics._job_loop_future.result()
-            if self.statement_samples._job_loop_future:
-                self.statement_samples._job_loop_future.result()
-            if self.metadata_samples._job_loop_future:
-                self.metadata_samples._job_loop_future.result()
+            self._cancel_async_job(self.statement_metrics)
+            self._cancel_async_job(self.statement_samples)
+            self._cancel_async_job(self.metadata_samples)
         elif self._config.data_observability.enabled:
-            self.metadata_samples.cancel()
-            if self.metadata_samples._job_loop_future:
-                self.metadata_samples._job_loop_future.result()
+            self._cancel_async_job(self.metadata_samples)
         if self._config.data_observability.enabled:
-            self.data_observability.cancel()
-            if self.data_observability._job_loop_future:
-                self.data_observability._job_loop_future.result()
+            self._cancel_async_job(self.data_observability)
+        self._clean_state()
+        self._query_manager = None
+        self.health = None
+        self.check_initializations.clear()
+        # TODO: move diagnosis cleanup into AgentCheck.cancel() in the base class
+        self._diagnosis = None
+        self._close_db()
         self._close_db_pool()
+        # CheckLoggingAdapter holds self.check until check_id is resolved via
+        # process(), which only happens after the agent scheduler calls run().
+        # If cancel() is called before that, the back-reference is never cleared.
+        self.log.check = None
 
     def _clean_state(self):
         self.log.debug("Cleaning state")
diff --git a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statement_samples.py b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statement_samples.py
index e8b45dd1ef891..b4c731a270cc3 100644
--- a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statement_samples.py
+++ b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statement_samples.py
@@ -152,8 +152,6 @@ def __init__(self, check: PostgreSql, config: InstanceConfig):
         if not config.query_samples.enabled:
             collection_interval = config.query_activity.collection_interval
 
-        self.db_pool = check.db_pool
-
         super(PostgresStatementSamples, self).__init__(
             check,
             rate_limit=1 / collection_interval,
@@ -222,6 +220,15 @@ def __init__(self, check: PostgreSql, config: InstanceConfig):
         self._time_since_last_activity_event = 0
         self._pg_stat_activity_cols = None
 
+    def _shutdown(self):
+        self._check = None
+        self._explain_parameterized_queries = None
+        self._collection_strategy_cache = None
+        self._explain_errors_cache = None
+        self._explained_statements_ratelimiter = None
+        self._seen_samples_ratelimiter = None
+        self._raw_statement_text_cache = None
+
     def _dbtags(self, db, *extra_tags):
         """
         Returns the default instance tags with the initial "db" tag replaced with the provided tag
@@ -646,7 +653,7 @@ def _can_explain_statement(self, obfuscated_statement):
     def _get_db_explain_setup_state(self, dbname):
         # type: (str) -> Tuple[Optional[DBExplainError], Optional[Exception]]
         try:
-            self.db_pool.get_connection(dbname)
+            self._check.db_pool.get_connection(dbname)
         except psycopg.OperationalError as e:
             self._log.warning(
                 "cannot collect execution plans due to failed DB connection to dbname=%s: %s", dbname, repr(e)
@@ -712,7 +719,7 @@ def _run_explain(self, dbname, statement, obfuscated_statement):
         start_time = time.time()
         if self._cancel_event.is_set():
             raise Exception("Job loop cancelled. Aborting query.")
-        with self.db_pool.get_connection(dbname) as conn:
+        with self._check.db_pool.get_connection(dbname) as conn:
             # When sending potentially non-ascii data, e.g. UTF8, we need to force
             # the client encoding to UTF-8 to match Python string encoding
             if conn.info.encoding.lower() in ["ascii", "sqlascii", "sql_ascii"]:
diff --git a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statements.py b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statements.py
index 8934812ecc79f..b515b717c599d 100644
--- a/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statements.py
+++ b/postgres/datadog_checks/postgres/statements.py
@@ -202,6 +202,13 @@ def __init__(self, check, config: InstanceConfig):
             ttl=60 * 60 / config.query_metrics.full_statement_text_samples_per_hour_per_query,
         )
 
+    def _shutdown(self):
+        self._check = None
+        self._full_statement_text_cache = None
+        self._state = None
+        self._query_calls_cache = None
+        self._baseline_metrics = None
+
     def _execute_query(self, query, params=(), binary=False, row_factory=None) -> Tuple[list, list]:
         if self._cancel_event.is_set():
             raise Exception("Job loop cancelled. Aborting query.")
diff --git a/postgres/tests/test_pg_integration.py b/postgres/tests/test_pg_integration.py
index 18aa7a510d4a8..6e27a1f974fa4 100644
--- a/postgres/tests/test_pg_integration.py
+++ b/postgres/tests/test_pg_integration.py
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ def test_database_instance_metadata(aggregator, pg_instance, dbm_enabled, report
         'database_instance:{}'.format(expected_database_instance),
     ]
     check = integration_check(pg_instance)
-    run_one_check(check)
+    run_one_check(check, cancel=False)
 
     # These tags are a bit dynamic in value, so we get them from the check and ensure they are present
     expected_tags.append('postgresql_version:{}'.format(check.raw_version))
diff --git a/postgres/tests/test_statements.py b/postgres/tests/test_statements.py
index 10c3c363f7f49..f2983eae8befe 100644
--- a/postgres/tests/test_statements.py
+++ b/postgres/tests/test_statements.py
@@ -1215,7 +1215,7 @@ def test_activity_reported_hostname(
     check = integration_check(dbm_instance)
     check._connect()
 
-    run_one_check(check)
+    run_one_check(check, cancel=False)
     run_one_check(check)
 
     dbm_activity = aggregator.get_event_platform_events("dbm-activity")
@@ -1480,7 +1480,7 @@ def test_async_job_enabled(
     dbm_instance['query_metrics'] = {'enabled': statement_metrics_enabled, 'run_sync': False}
     check = integration_check(dbm_instance)
     check._connect()
-    run_one_check(check)
+    run_one_check(check, cancel=False)
     if statement_samples_enabled or statement_activity_enabled:
         assert check.statement_samples._job_loop_future is not None
     else:
@@ -1713,8 +1713,8 @@ def test_async_job_cancel_cancel(aggregator, integration_check, dbm_instance):
     check = integration_check(dbm_instance)
     check._connect()
     run_one_check(check)
-    assert not check.statement_samples._job_loop_future.running(), "samples thread should be stopped"
-    assert not check.statement_metrics._job_loop_future.running(), "metrics thread should be stopped"
+    assert check.statement_samples._job_loop_future is None, "samples future should be cleaned up after cancel"
+    assert check.statement_metrics._job_loop_future is None, "metrics future should be cleaned up after cancel"
     # if the thread doesn't start until after the cancel signal is set then the db connection will never
     # be created in the first place
     assert check.db_pool.pools.get(dbm_instance['dbname']) is None, "db connection should be gone"
diff --git a/postgres/tests/test_unit.py b/postgres/tests/test_unit.py
index ce7d0505880df..decd10285d07d 100644
--- a/postgres/tests/test_unit.py
+++ b/postgres/tests/test_unit.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # All rights reserved
 # Licensed under Simplified BSD License (see LICENSE)
 import copy
+import gc
+import weakref
 
 import mock
 import psycopg
@@ -9,7 +11,7 @@
 from pytest import fail
 from semver import VersionInfo
 
-from datadog_checks.postgres import util
+from datadog_checks.postgres import PostgreSql, util
 from datadog_checks.postgres.schemas import PostgresSchemaCollector
 
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.unit
@@ -315,7 +317,7 @@ def test_run_explain_uses_parameterized_statement(pg_instance, integration_check
     conn_cm = mock.MagicMock()
     conn_cm.__enter__.return_value = mock_conn
 
-    with mock.patch.object(check.statement_samples.db_pool, 'get_connection', return_value=conn_cm):
+    with mock.patch.object(check.db_pool, 'get_connection', return_value=conn_cm):
         with mock.patch.object(check, 'histogram'):
             check.statement_samples._run_explain('testdb', statement, statement)
 
@@ -336,3 +338,89 @@ def test_new_connection_closes_conn_when_configure_raises(integration_check, pg_
             with pytest.raises(psycopg.Error):
                 check._new_connection(check._config.dbname)
     conn.close.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_close_db_closes_open_connection(integration_check, pg_instance):
+    check = integration_check(pg_instance)
+    conn = mock.MagicMock()
+    conn.closed = False
+    check._db = conn
+
+    check._close_db()
+
+    conn.close.assert_called_once()
+    assert check._db is None
+
+
+def test_close_db_handles_already_closed_connection(integration_check, pg_instance):
+    check = integration_check(pg_instance)
+    conn = mock.MagicMock()
+    conn.close.side_effect = Exception("already closed")
+    check._db = conn
+
+    check._close_db()
+
+    assert check._db is None
+
+
+def test_close_db_noop_when_no_connection(integration_check, pg_instance):
+    check = integration_check(pg_instance)
+    check._db = None
+
+    check._close_db()
+
+    assert check._db is None
+
+
+def test_cancel_closes_main_db_connection(integration_check, pg_instance):
+    check = integration_check(pg_instance)
+    conn = mock.MagicMock()
+    check._db = conn
+
+    check.cancel()
+
+    conn.close.assert_called_once()
+    assert check._db is None
+
+
+def test_check_gc_after_cancel(pg_instance):
+    """Verify cancel() breaks all reference cycles so refcount alone reclaims the check.
+
+    If this test fails, the assertion message lists the types still holding a
+    reference to the check. To fix it:
+
+    1. Identify the referrer type in the failure message (e.g. ``QueryManager``).
+    2. Find which attribute on that object points back to the check (usually
+       ``self.check`` or ``self._check``).
+    3. Null that attribute in ``cancel()`` or add it to the relevant
+       ``_shutdown()`` method.
+    4. If the referrer is a closure or ``functools.partial``, find the
+       registration site and null or clear the container that holds it.
+    """
+    pg_instance['dbm'] = True
+    pg_instance['query_samples'] = {'enabled': True, 'run_sync': True, 'collection_interval': 1}
+    pg_instance['query_metrics'] = {'enabled': True, 'run_sync': True, 'collection_interval': 10}
+    pg_instance['query_activity'] = {'enabled': True, 'collection_interval': 1}
+    pg_instance['data_observability'] = {'enabled': True, 'run_sync': True, 'collection_interval': 1}
+
+    check = PostgreSql('postgres', {}, [pg_instance])
+    ref = weakref.ref(check)
+
+    check.cancel()
+
+    gc.collect()
+    gc.disable()
+    try:
+        del check
+        obj = ref()
+        if obj is not None:
+            import inspect
+
+            referrers = [
+                f"bound method {r.__qualname__}" if inspect.ismethod(r) else type(r).__name__
+                for r in gc.get_referrers(obj)
+            ]
+            del obj
+            fail(f"Check still alive after cancel() + del -- pinned by: {referrers}")
+    finally:
+        gc.enable()
diff --git a/postgres/tests/utils.py b/postgres/tests/utils.py
index 30d0181ec3ad1..fd948c4781ba0 100644
--- a/postgres/tests/utils.py
+++ b/postgres/tests/utils.py
@@ -137,17 +137,11 @@ def run_vacuum_thread(pg_instance, vacuum_query, application_name='test'):
 def run_one_check(check: AgentCheck, cancel=True):
     """
     Run check and immediately cancel.
-    Waits for all threads to close before continuing.
+    cancel() joins all threads and nulls futures, so no extra .result() calls needed.
     """
     check.run()
     if cancel:
         check.cancel()
-    if check.statement_samples._job_loop_future is not None:
-        check.statement_samples._job_loop_future.result()
-    if check.statement_metrics._job_loop_future is not None:
-        check.statement_metrics._job_loop_future.result()
-    if check.metadata_samples._job_loop_future is not None:
-        check.metadata_samples._job_loop_future.result()
 
 
 def normalize_object(obj):