diff --git a/proxy/src/scram/exchange.rs b/proxy/src/scram/exchange.rs
index 7fdadc7038..786cbcaa19 100644
--- a/proxy/src/scram/exchange.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/scram/exchange.rs
@@ -86,8 +86,7 @@ async fn derive_client_key(
 ) -> ScramKey {
     let salted_password = pool
         .spawn_job(endpoint, Pbkdf2::start(password, salt, iterations))
-        .await
-        .expect("job should not be cancelled");
+        .await;
 
     let make_key = |name| {
         let key = Hmac::<Sha256>::new_from_slice(&salted_password)
diff --git a/proxy/src/scram/threadpool.rs b/proxy/src/scram/threadpool.rs
index d73a927995..2702aeebfe 100644
--- a/proxy/src/scram/threadpool.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/scram/threadpool.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ use std::{
     task::{Context, Poll},
 };
 
+use futures::FutureExt;
 use rand::Rng;
 use rand::{rngs::SmallRng, SeedableRng};
 
@@ -74,15 +75,13 @@ impl ThreadPool {
         })
     }
 
-    pub(crate) fn spawn_job(
-        &self,
-        endpoint: EndpointIdInt,
-        pbkdf2: Pbkdf2,
-    ) -> tokio::task::JoinHandle<[u8; 32]> {
-        self.runtime
-            .as_ref()
-            .unwrap()
-            .spawn(JobSpec { pbkdf2, endpoint })
+    pub(crate) fn spawn_job(&self, endpoint: EndpointIdInt, pbkdf2: Pbkdf2) -> JobHandle {
+        JobHandle(
+            self.runtime
+                .as_ref()
+                .unwrap()
+                .spawn(JobSpec { pbkdf2, endpoint }),
+        )
     }
 }
 
@@ -167,6 +166,26 @@ impl Future for JobSpec {
     }
 }
 
+pub(crate) struct JobHandle(tokio::task::JoinHandle<[u8; 32]>);
+
+impl Future for JobHandle {
+    type Output = [u8; 32];
+
+    fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
+        match self.0.poll_unpin(cx) {
+            Poll::Ready(Ok(ok)) => Poll::Ready(ok),
+            Poll::Ready(Err(err)) => std::panic::resume_unwind(err.into_panic()),
+            Poll::Pending => Poll::Pending,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for JobHandle {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        self.0.abort();
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use crate::EndpointId;
@@ -183,8 +202,7 @@ mod tests {
         let salt = [0x55; 32];
         let actual = pool
             .spawn_job(ep, Pbkdf2::start(b"password", &salt, 4096))
-            .await
-            .unwrap();
+            .await;
 
         let expected = [
             10, 114, 73, 188, 140, 222, 196, 156, 214, 184, 79, 157, 119, 242, 16, 31, 53, 242,