diff --git a/BackgroundServices/AutoUserDownload.cs b/BackgroundServices/AutoUserDownload.cs
index c333c11..229feb0 100644
--- a/BackgroundServices/AutoUserDownload.cs
+++ b/BackgroundServices/AutoUserDownload.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 using BirthdayBot.Data;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 
 namespace BirthdayBot.BackgroundServices;
-
 /// <summary>
 /// Proactively fills the user cache for guilds in which any birthday data already exists.
 /// </summary>
@@ -9,14 +9,23 @@ class AutoUserDownload : BackgroundService {
     public AutoUserDownload(ShardInstance instance) : base(instance) { }
 
     public override async Task OnTick(int tickCount, CancellationToken token) {
-        using var db = new BotDatabaseContext();
-
         // Take action if a guild's cache is incomplete...
         var incompleteCaches = ShardInstance.DiscordClient.Guilds.Where(g => !g.HasAllMembers).Select(g => (long)g.Id).ToHashSet();
         // ...and if the guild contains any user data
-        var mustFetch = db.UserEntries.Where(e => incompleteCaches.Contains(e.GuildId)).Select(e => e.GuildId).Distinct();
-
-        int processed = 0;
+        IEnumerable<long> mustFetch;
+        try {
+            await DbConcurrentOperationsLock.WaitAsync(token);
+            using var db = new BotDatabaseContext();
+            mustFetch = db.UserEntries.AsNoTracking()
+                .Where(e => incompleteCaches.Contains(e.GuildId)).Select(e => e.GuildId).Distinct()
+                .ToList();
+        } finally {
+            try {
+                DbConcurrentOperationsLock.Release();
+            } catch (ObjectDisposedException) { }
+        }
+        
+        var processed = 0;
         foreach (var item in mustFetch) {
             // May cause a disconnect in certain situations. Cancel all further attempts until the next pass if it happens.
             if (ShardInstance.DiscordClient.ConnectionState != ConnectionState.Connected) break;
@@ -28,6 +37,6 @@ class AutoUserDownload : BackgroundService {
             processed++;
         }
 
-        if (processed > 100) Log($"Explicit user list request processed for {processed} guild(s).");
+        if (processed > 25) Log($"Explicit user list request processed for {processed} guild(s).");
     }
 }