diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/SpannerPool.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/SpannerPool.java
index 51bfde8f00..132478b364 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/SpannerPool.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/connection/SpannerPool.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ private final class CloseSpannerRunnable implements Runnable {
     public void run() {
       try {
         checkAndCloseSpanners(CheckAndCloseSpannersMode.WARN);
-      } catch (Exception e) {
+      } catch (Throwable e) {
         // ignore
       }
     }