diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0895247..50a549f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -442,6 +442,20 @@ workers will sleep for 5 seconds.
 
 ```ruby
 # The max number of jobs a worker may lock at a time (also the size of the thread pool):
+# NOTE: This should be less than your ActiveRecord connection pool size. The worker process
+# itself needs one connection for polling and locking, so if max_claims >= pool_size, a job
+# thread that cannot check out a connection within the checkout timeout may raise
+# ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError. The worker will log a warning at startup if this
+# is detected.
+#
+# The general rule is: if each job thread needs N connections and max_claims is M,
+# your pool should have at least N * (M + 1) connections. The most common case is N=1
+# (one connection per thread), so pool_size should be at least max_claims + 1.
+#
+# For example, if your pool size is 5, set max_claims to 4:
+#
+#   # config/initializers/delayed_job.rb
+#   Delayed::Worker.max_claims = ActiveRecord::Base.connection_pool.size - 1
 Delayed::Worker.max_claims = 5
 
 # The number of jobs to which a worker may "read ahead" when locking jobs (mysql only!):
diff --git a/lib/delayed/worker.rb b/lib/delayed/worker.rb
index bc0baea..174eb54 100644
--- a/lib/delayed/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/delayed/worker.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ def name
     # Setting the name to nil will reset the default worker name
     attr_writer :name
 
+    def start
+      check_connection_pool_config!
+      super
+    end
+
     def run!
       @realtime = Benchmark.realtime do
         @result = work_off
@@ -235,6 +240,21 @@ def reload!
       Rails.application.reloader.reload! if defined?(Rails.application.reloader) && Rails.application.reloader.check!
     end
 
+    def check_connection_pool_config!
+      return unless Delayed::Job.respond_to?(:connection_pool)
+
+      pool_size = Delayed::Job.connection_pool.size
+      return unless pool_size
+      return if self.class.max_claims < pool_size
+
+      say "WARNING: Delayed::Worker.max_claims (#{self.class.max_claims}) >= ActiveRecord connection pool size (#{pool_size}). " \
+          "The worker process itself also needs a connection for polling and locking, so at least one job thread " \
+          "will likely fail with ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError. " \
+          "Set Delayed::Worker.max_claims to #{[pool_size - 1, 1].max} or less, or increase your connection pool size.", 'warn'
+    rescue StandardError
+      nil
+    end
+
     def clock_time
       Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
     end
diff --git a/spec/worker_spec.rb b/spec/worker_spec.rb
index b79160a..2b6c481 100644
--- a/spec/worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/worker_spec.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,83 @@
       expect(performances).to eq [true, nil, nil]
       expect(Delayed::Job).to have_received(:reserve)
     end
+
+    describe 'connection pool config check' do
+      let(:connection_pool) { instance_double(ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ConnectionPool, size: pool_size) }
+
+      around do |example|
+        max_claims_was = described_class.max_claims
+        described_class.max_claims = max_claims
+        example.run
+      ensure
+        described_class.max_claims = max_claims_was
+      end
+
+      before do
+        allow(Delayed.logger).to receive(:warn)
+        subject.send(:stop) # prevent start from running more than one loop
+        allow(Delayed::Job).to receive(:reserve).and_return([])
+        allow(Delayed::Job).to receive(:connection_pool).and_return(connection_pool)
+        allow(Delayed::Job).to receive(:clear_locks!)
+      end
+
+      context 'when max_claims equals pool size' do
+        let(:max_claims) { 5 }
+        let(:pool_size) { 5 }
+
+        it 'logs a warning at startup' do
+          subject.start
+          expect(Delayed.logger).to have_received(:warn).with(
+            include(
+              'WARNING: Delayed::Worker.max_claims (5) >= ActiveRecord connection pool size (5). ' \
+              'The worker process itself also needs a connection for polling and locking, so at least one job thread ' \
+              'will likely fail with ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError. ' \
+              'Set Delayed::Worker.max_claims to 4 or less, or increase your connection pool size.',
+            ),
+          )
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when max_claims exceeds pool size' do
+        let(:max_claims) { 6 }
+        let(:pool_size) { 5 }
+
+        it 'logs a warning at startup' do
+          subject.start
+          expect(Delayed.logger).to have_received(:warn).with(
+            include(
+              'WARNING: Delayed::Worker.max_claims (6) >= ActiveRecord connection pool size (5). ' \
+              'The worker process itself also needs a connection for polling and locking, so at least one job thread ' \
+              'will likely fail with ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError. ' \
+              'Set Delayed::Worker.max_claims to 4 or less, or increase your connection pool size.',
+            ),
+          )
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when max_claims is less than pool size' do
+        let(:max_claims) { 4 }
+        let(:pool_size) { 5 }
+
+        it 'does not log a warning' do
+          subject.start
+          expect(Delayed.logger).not_to have_received(:warn).with(/WARNING/i)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when connection_pool introspection raises' do
+        let(:max_claims) { 5 }
+        let(:pool_size) { 5 }
+
+        before do
+          allow(Delayed::Job).to receive(:connection_pool).and_raise(StandardError, 'unavailable')
+        end
+
+        it 'starts without raising' do
+          expect { subject.start }.not_to raise_error
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   # rubocop:disable RSpec/SubjectStub