diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c67cfd3..48645bd 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ services:
 
   localstack:
     # changes to multi region support after this version break tests
-    image: localstack/localstack:latest
+    image: localstack/localstack:stable
     container_name: localstack
     environment:
       - SQS_ENDPOINT_STRATEGY=off
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ services:
       - "8085:8080"
       - "4566:4566"
     healthcheck:
-      test: if [ $$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:4566/health?reload) -ne 200 ]; then exit 1; fi
+      test: if [ $$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:4566/_localstack/health?reload) -ne 200 ]; then exit 1; fi
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 10
diff --git a/eventq.gemspec b/eventq.gemspec
index f0750e3..9175746 100644
--- a/eventq.gemspec
+++ b/eventq.gemspec
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency 'rspec'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'shoulda-matchers'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'simplecov', '< 0.18.0'
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'debug'
 
   spec.add_dependency 'aws-sdk-core'
   spec.add_dependency 'aws-sdk-sns'
@@ -33,4 +34,5 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_dependency 'oj'
   spec.add_dependency 'openssl'
   spec.add_dependency 'redlock'
+  spec.add_dependency 'connection_pool'
 end
diff --git a/lib/eventq/eventq_base/nonce_manager.rb b/lib/eventq/eventq_base/nonce_manager.rb
index 12c807c..7c9b0e9 100644
--- a/lib/eventq/eventq_base/nonce_manager.rb
+++ b/lib/eventq/eventq_base/nonce_manager.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 module EventQ
   class NonceManager
 
-    def self.configure(server:,timeout:10000,lifespan:3600)
+    def self.configure(server:,timeout:10000,lifespan:3600, pool_size: 5, pool_timeout: 5)
       @server_url = server
       @timeout = timeout
       @lifespan = lifespan
+      @pool_size = pool_size
+      @pool_timeout = pool_timeout
     end
 
     def self.server_url
@@ -19,33 +21,51 @@ def self.lifespan
       @lifespan
     end
 
-    def self.is_allowed?(nonce)
-      if @server_url == nil
-        return true
+    def self.pool_size
+      @pool_size
+    end
+
+    def self.pool_timeout
+      @pool_timeout
+    end
+
+    def self.lock(nonce)
+      # act as if successfully locked if not nonce manager configured - makes it a no-op
+      return true if not_configured?
+
+      successfully_locked = false
+      with_redis_connection do |conn|
+        successfully_locked = conn.set(nonce, 1, ex: lifespan, nx: true)
       end
 
-      require 'redlock'
-      lock = Redlock::Client.new([ @server_url ]).lock(nonce, @timeout)
-      if lock == false
+      if !successfully_locked
         EventQ.log(:info, "[#{self.class}] - Message has already been processed: #{nonce}")
-        return false
       end
 
-      return true
+      successfully_locked
     end
 
+    # if the message was successfully procesed, lock for another lifespan length
+    # so it isn't reprocessed
     def self.complete(nonce)
-      if @server_url != nil
-        Redis.new(url: @server_url).expire(nonce, @lifespan)
+      return true if not_configured?
+
+      with_redis_connection do |conn|
+        conn.expire(nonce, lifespan)
       end
-      return true
+
+      true
     end
 
+    # if it failed, unlock immediately so that retries can kick in
     def self.failed(nonce)
-      if @server_url != nil
-        Redis.new(url: @server_url).del(nonce)
+      return true if not_configured?
+
+      with_redis_connection do |conn|
+        conn.del(nonce)
       end
-      return true
+
+      true
     end
 
     def self.reset
@@ -53,5 +73,28 @@ def self.reset
       @timeout = nil
       @lifespan = nil
     end
+
+    private
+
+    def self.with_redis_connection
+      redis_pool.with do |conn|
+        yield conn
+      end
+    end
+
+    def self.redis_pool
+      @redis_pool ||= begin
+        require 'connection_pool'
+        require 'redis'
+
+        ConnectionPool.new(size: @pool_size, timeout: @pool_timeout) do
+          Redis.new(url: @server_url)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def self.not_configured?
+      @server_url.nil? || @server_url.empty?
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/eventq/queue_worker.rb b/lib/eventq/queue_worker.rb
index a61b730..1f27f14 100644
--- a/lib/eventq/queue_worker.rb
+++ b/lib/eventq/queue_worker.rb
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def process_message(block, message, retry_attempts, acceptance_args)
 
       EventQ.logger.debug("[#{self.class}] - Message received. Id: #{message.id}. Retry Attempts: #{retry_attempts}")
 
-      if (!EventQ::NonceManager.is_allowed?(message.id))
+      if (!EventQ::NonceManager.lock(message.id))
         EventQ.logger.warn("[#{self.class}] - Duplicate Message received. Id: #{message.id}. Ignoring message.")
         status = :duplicate
         return status, message_args
diff --git a/spec/eventq_base/nonce_manager_spec.rb b/spec/eventq_base/nonce_manager_spec.rb
index 02409b2..17fdc5d 100644
--- a/spec/eventq_base/nonce_manager_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/eventq_base/nonce_manager_spec.rb
@@ -6,13 +6,17 @@
     let(:server_url) { 'redis://server:6379' }
     let(:timeout) { 5000 }
     let(:lifespan) { 20000}
+    let(:pool_size) { 1 }
+    let(:pool_timeout) { 1 }
 
     context 'when all values are specified' do
       it 'should set the configuration values correctly' do
-        described_class.configure(server: server_url, timeout: timeout, lifespan: lifespan)
+        described_class.configure(server: server_url, timeout: timeout, lifespan: lifespan, pool_size: pool_size, pool_timeout: pool_timeout)
         expect(described_class.server_url).to eq server_url
         expect(described_class.timeout).to eq timeout
         expect(described_class.lifespan).to eq lifespan
+        expect(described_class.pool_size).to eq pool_size
+        expect(described_class.pool_timeout).to eq pool_timeout
       end
     end
 
@@ -22,6 +26,8 @@
         expect(described_class.server_url).to eq server_url
         expect(described_class.timeout).to eq 10000
         expect(described_class.lifespan).to eq 3600
+        expect(described_class.pool_size).to eq 5
+        expect(described_class.pool_timeout).to eq 5
       end
     end
 
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@
 
   end
 
-  describe '#is_allowed?' do
+  describe '#lock' do
     let(:nonce) { SecureRandom.uuid }
 
     context 'when NonceManager has been configured' do
@@ -40,13 +46,13 @@
       end
       context 'when a nonce has NOT been used' do
         it 'should return true' do
-          expect(described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)).to be true
+          expect(described_class.lock(nonce)).to be true
         end
       end
       context 'when a nonce has already been used' do
         it 'should return false' do
-          described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)
-          expect(described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)).to be false
+          described_class.lock(nonce)
+          expect(described_class.lock(nonce)).to be false
         end
       end
       after do
@@ -60,15 +66,20 @@
       end
       context 'when a nonce has NOT been used' do
         it 'should return true' do
-          expect(described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)).to be true
+          expect(described_class.lock(nonce)).to be true
         end
       end
       context 'when a nonce has already been used' do
         it 'should return false' do
-          described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)
-          expect(described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)).to be true
+          described_class.lock(nonce)
+          expect(described_class.lock(nonce)).to be true
         end
       end
+
+      it 'should not attempt to hit redis' do
+        expect_any_instance_of(Redis).not_to receive(:set)
+        described_class.lock(nonce)
+      end
     end
 
   end
@@ -78,7 +89,7 @@
     context 'when NonceManager has been configured' do
       before do
         described_class.configure(server: ENV.fetch('REDIS_ENDPOINT', 'redis://redis:6379'))
-        described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)
+        described_class.lock(nonce)
       end
       it 'should extend the expiry of the nonce key' do
         expect(described_class.complete(nonce)).to eq true
@@ -103,7 +114,7 @@
     context 'when NonceManager has been configured' do
       before do
         described_class.configure(server: ENV.fetch('REDIS_ENDPOINT', 'redis://redis:6379'))
-        described_class.is_allowed?(nonce)
+        described_class.lock(nonce)
       end
       it 'should extend the expiry of the nonce key' do
         expect(described_class.failed(nonce)).to eq true