diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SpannerImpl.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SpannerImpl.java
index eeb4ad51f5..f16382e835 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SpannerImpl.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SpannerImpl.java
@@ -92,9 +92,6 @@ private static String nextDatabaseClientId(DatabaseId databaseId) {
 
   private final CloseableExecutorProvider asyncExecutorProvider;
 
-  @GuardedBy("this")
-  private final List<DatabaseClientImpl> invalidatedDbClients = new ArrayList<>();
-
   @GuardedBy("this")
   private final Map<DatabaseId, SessionClient> sessionClients = new HashMap<>();
 
@@ -204,9 +201,8 @@ public DatabaseClient getDatabaseClient(DatabaseId db) {
       checkClosed();
       String clientId = null;
       if (dbClients.containsKey(db) && !dbClients.get(db).pool.isValid()) {
-        // Move the invalidated client to a separate list, so we can close it together with the
-        // other database clients when the Spanner instance is closed.
-        invalidatedDbClients.add(dbClients.get(db));
+        // Close the invalidated client and remove it.
+        dbClients.get(db).closeAsync(new ClosedException());
         clientId = dbClients.get(db).clientId;
         dbClients.remove(db);
       }
@@ -253,8 +249,7 @@ void close(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) {
       checkClosed();
       closedException = new ClosedException();
       closureFutures = new ArrayList<>();
-      invalidatedDbClients.addAll(dbClients.values());
-      for (DatabaseClientImpl dbClient : invalidatedDbClients) {
+      for (DatabaseClientImpl dbClient : dbClients.values()) {
         closureFutures.add(dbClient.closeAsync(closedException));
       }
       dbClients.clear();