diff --git a/base/error.go b/base/error.go
index f77a62eb91..46cf198fa8 100644
--- a/base/error.go
+++ b/base/error.go
@@ -244,8 +244,12 @@ func IsTemporaryKvError(err error) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 	// define list of temporary errors
-	temporaryKVError := []error{ErrTimeout, gocb.ErrAmbiguousTimeout, gocb.ErrUnambiguousTimeout,
-		gocb.ErrOverload, gocb.ErrTemporaryFailure, gocb.ErrCircuitBreakerOpen}
+	temporaryKVError := []error{
+		ErrTimeout,                 // Sync Gateway client-side timeout
+		gocb.ErrTimeout,            // SDK op timeout.  Wrapped by gocb.ErrAmbiguousTimeout, gocb.ErrUnambiguousTimeout,
+		gocb.ErrOverload,           // SDK client-side pipeline queue full, request was not submitted to server
+		gocb.ErrTemporaryFailure,   // Couchbase Server returned temporary failure error
+		gocb.ErrCircuitBreakerOpen} // SDK client-side circuit breaker blocked request
 
 	// iterate through to check incoming error is one of them
 	for _, tempKVErr := range temporaryKVError {
diff --git a/rest/adminapitest/admin_api_test.go b/rest/adminapitest/admin_api_test.go
index e377b832ca..42edfef91f 100644
--- a/rest/adminapitest/admin_api_test.go
+++ b/rest/adminapitest/admin_api_test.go
@@ -1777,6 +1777,91 @@ func TestMultipleBucketWithBadDbConfigScenario3(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+// TestConfigPollingRemoveDatabase:
+//
+//	Validates db is removed when polling detects that the config is not found
+func TestConfigPollingRemoveDatabase(t *testing.T) {
+
+	base.SetUpTestLogging(t, base.LevelInfo, base.KeyConfig)
+	testCases := []struct {
+		useXattrConfig bool
+	}{
+		{
+			useXattrConfig: false,
+		},
+		{
+			useXattrConfig: true,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testCase := range testCases {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("xattrConfig_%v", testCase.useXattrConfig), func(t *testing.T) {
+
+			rt := rest.NewRestTester(t, &rest.RestTesterConfig{
+				CustomTestBucket: base.GetTestBucket(t),
+				PersistentConfig: true,
+				MutateStartupConfig: func(config *rest.StartupConfig) {
+					// configure the interval time to pick up new configs from the bucket to every 50 milliseconds
+					config.Bootstrap.ConfigUpdateFrequency = base.NewConfigDuration(50 * time.Millisecond)
+				},
+				DatabaseConfig: nil,
+				UseXattrConfig: testCase.useXattrConfig,
+			})
+			defer rt.Close()
+
+			ctx := base.TestCtx(t)
+			// create a new db
+			dbName := "db1"
+			dbConfig := rt.NewDbConfig()
+			dbConfig.Name = dbName
+			dbConfig.BucketConfig.Bucket = base.StringPtr(rt.CustomTestBucket.GetName())
+			resp := rt.CreateDatabase(dbName, dbConfig)
+			rest.RequireStatus(t, resp, http.StatusCreated)
+
+			// Validate that db is loaded
+			_, err := rt.ServerContext().GetDatabase(ctx, dbName)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			// Force timeouts - dev-time only test enhancement to validate CBG-3947, requires manual "leaky bootstrap" handling
+			// To enable:
+			//  - Add "var ForceTimeouts bool" to bootstrap.go
+			//  - In CouchbaseCluster.GetMetadataDocument, add the following after loadConfig:
+			//    	if ForceTimeouts {
+			//			return 0, gocb.ErrTimeout
+			//		}
+			//  - enable the code block below
+			/*
+				base.ForceTimeouts = true
+
+				// Wait to ensure database doesn't disappear
+				err = rt.WaitForConditionWithOptions(func() bool {
+					_, err := rt.ServerContext().GetActiveDatabase(dbName)
+					return errors.Is(err, base.ErrNotFound)
+
+				}, 200, 50)
+				require.Error(t, err)
+
+				base.ForceTimeouts = false
+			*/
+
+			// Delete the config directly
+			rt.RemoveDbConfigFromBucket("db1", rt.CustomTestBucket.GetName())
+
+			// assert that the database is unloaded
+			err = rt.WaitForConditionWithOptions(func() bool {
+				_, err := rt.ServerContext().GetActiveDatabase(dbName)
+				return errors.Is(err, base.ErrNotFound)
+
+			}, 200, 1000)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			// assert that a request to the database fails with correct error message
+			resp = rt.SendAdminRequest(http.MethodGet, "/db1/_config", "")
+			rest.RequireStatus(t, resp, http.StatusNotFound)
+			assert.Contains(t, resp.Body.String(), "no such database")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestResyncStopUsingDCPStream(t *testing.T) {
 	if base.UnitTestUrlIsWalrus() {
 		// This test requires a gocb bucket
diff --git a/rest/config.go b/rest/config.go
index 52499681ba..979907ef0c 100644
--- a/rest/config.go
+++ b/rest/config.go
@@ -1635,17 +1635,26 @@ func (sc *ServerContext) fetchAndLoadConfigs(ctx context.Context, isInitialStart
 	sc.lock.Lock()
 	defer sc.lock.Unlock()
 	for _, dbName := range deletedDatabases {
+		dbc, ok := sc.databases_[dbName]
+		if !ok {
+			base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Database %q already removed from server context after acquiring write lock - do not need to remove not removing database", base.MD(dbName))
+			continue
+		}
 		// It's possible that the "deleted" database was not written to the server until after sc.FetchConfigs had returned...
 		// we'll need to pay for the cost of getting the config again now that we've got the write lock to double-check this db is definitely ok to remove...
-		found, _, err := sc._fetchDatabase(ctx, dbName)
-		if err != nil {
-			base.InfofCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Error fetching config for database %q to check whether we need to remove it: %v", dbName, err)
+		found, _, getConfigErr := sc._fetchDatabaseFromBucket(ctx, dbc.Bucket.GetName(), dbName)
+		if found && getConfigErr == nil {
+			base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Found config for database %q after acquiring write lock - not removing database", base.MD(dbName))
+			continue
+		}
+		if base.IsTemporaryKvError(getConfigErr) {
+			base.InfofCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Transient error fetching config for database %q to check whether we need to remove it, will not be removed: %v", base.MD(dbName), getConfigErr)
+			continue
 		}
+
 		if !found {
-			base.InfofCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Database %q was running on this node, but config was not found on the server - removing database", base.MD(dbName))
+			base.InfofCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Database %q was running on this node, but config was not found on the server - removing database (%v)", base.MD(dbName), getConfigErr)
 			sc._removeDatabase(ctx, dbName)
-		} else {
-			base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Found config for database %q after acquiring write lock - not removing database", base.MD(dbName))
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1753,56 +1762,60 @@ func (sc *ServerContext) fetchDatabase(ctx context.Context, dbName string) (foun
 	return sc._fetchDatabase(ctx, dbName)
 }
 
-func (sc *ServerContext) _fetchDatabase(ctx context.Context, dbName string) (found bool, dbConfig *DatabaseConfig, err error) {
-	// loop code moved to foreachDbConfig
-	var cnf DatabaseConfig
-	callback := func(bucket string) (exit bool, err error) {
-		cas, err := sc.BootstrapContext.GetConfig(ctx, bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, dbName, &cnf)
-		if err == base.ErrNotFound {
-			base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "%q did not contain config in group %q", bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID)
-			return false, err
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "unable to fetch config in group %q from bucket %q: %v", sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, bucket, err)
-			return false, err
-		}
+func (sc *ServerContext) _fetchDatabaseFromBucket(ctx context.Context, bucket string, dbName string) (found bool, cnf DatabaseConfig, err error) {
 
-		if cnf.Name == "" {
-			cnf.Name = bucket
-		}
+	cas, err := sc.BootstrapContext.GetConfig(ctx, bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, dbName, &cnf)
+	if errors.Is(err, base.ErrNotFound) {
+		base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "%q did not contain config in group %q", bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID)
+		return false, cnf, err
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		base.DebugfCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "unable to fetch config in group %q from bucket %q: %v", sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, bucket, err)
+		return false, cnf, err
+	}
 
-		if cnf.Name != dbName {
-			base.TracefCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "%q did not contain config in group %q for db %q", bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, dbName)
-			return false, err
-		}
+	if cnf.Name == "" {
+		cnf.Name = bucket
+	}
 
-		cnf.cfgCas = cas
+	if cnf.Name != dbName {
+		base.TracefCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "%q did not contain config in group %q for db %q", bucket, sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID, dbName)
+		return false, cnf, err
+	}
 
-		// TODO: This code is mostly copied from FetchConfigs, move into shared function with DbConfig REST API work?
+	cnf.cfgCas = cas
 
-		// inherit properties the bootstrap config
-		cnf.CACertPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.CACertPath
+	// inherit properties the bootstrap config
+	cnf.CACertPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.CACertPath
 
-		// We need to check for corruption in the database config (CC. CBG-3292). If the fetched config doesn't match the
-		// bucket name we got the config from we need to maker this db context as corrupt. Then remove the context and
-		// in memory representation on the server context.
-		if bucket != cnf.GetBucketName() {
-			sc._handleInvalidDatabaseConfig(ctx, bucket, cnf)
-			return true, fmt.Errorf("mismatch in persisted database bucket name %q vs the actual bucket name %q. Please correct db %q's config, groupID %q.", base.MD(cnf.Bucket), base.MD(bucket), base.MD(cnf.Name), base.MD(sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID))
-		}
-		bucketCopy := bucket
-		// no corruption detected carry on as usual
-		cnf.Bucket = &bucketCopy
+	// We need to check for corruption in the database config (CC. CBG-3292). If the fetched config doesn't match the
+	// bucket name we got the config from we need to maker this db context as corrupt. Then remove the context and
+	// in memory representation on the server context.
+	if bucket != cnf.GetBucketName() {
+		sc._handleInvalidDatabaseConfig(ctx, bucket, cnf)
+		return true, cnf, fmt.Errorf("mismatch in persisted database bucket name %q vs the actual bucket name %q. Please correct db %q's config, groupID %q.", base.MD(cnf.Bucket), base.MD(bucket), base.MD(cnf.Name), base.MD(sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID))
+	}
+	bucketCopy := bucket
+	// no corruption detected carry on as usual
+	cnf.Bucket = &bucketCopy
 
-		// any authentication fields defined on the dbconfig take precedence over any in the bootstrap config
-		if cnf.Username == "" && cnf.Password == "" && cnf.CertPath == "" && cnf.KeyPath == "" {
-			cnf.Username = sc.Config.Bootstrap.Username
-			cnf.Password = sc.Config.Bootstrap.Password
-			cnf.CertPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.X509CertPath
-			cnf.KeyPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.X509KeyPath
-		}
-		base.TracefCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Got database config %s for bucket %q with cas %d and groupID %q", base.MD(dbName), base.MD(bucket), cas, base.MD(sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID))
-		return true, nil
+	// any authentication fields defined on the dbconfig take precedence over any in the bootstrap config
+	if cnf.Username == "" && cnf.Password == "" && cnf.CertPath == "" && cnf.KeyPath == "" {
+		cnf.Username = sc.Config.Bootstrap.Username
+		cnf.Password = sc.Config.Bootstrap.Password
+		cnf.CertPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.X509CertPath
+		cnf.KeyPath = sc.Config.Bootstrap.X509KeyPath
+	}
+	base.TracefCtx(ctx, base.KeyConfig, "Got database config %s for bucket %q with cas %d and groupID %q", base.MD(dbName), base.MD(bucket), cas, base.MD(sc.Config.Bootstrap.ConfigGroupID))
+	return true, cnf, nil
+}
+
+func (sc *ServerContext) _fetchDatabase(ctx context.Context, dbName string) (found bool, dbConfig *DatabaseConfig, err error) {
+	var cnf DatabaseConfig
+	callback := func(bucket string) (exit bool, callbackErr error) {
+		var foundInBucket bool
+		foundInBucket, cnf, callbackErr = sc._fetchDatabaseFromBucket(ctx, bucket, dbName)
+		return foundInBucket, callbackErr
 	}
 
 	err = sc.findBucketWithCallback(callback)
diff --git a/rest/utilities_testing.go b/rest/utilities_testing.go
index 22221cd4ac..9ab25eebb0 100644
--- a/rest/utilities_testing.go
+++ b/rest/utilities_testing.go
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ type RestTesterConfig struct {
 	syncGatewayVersion              *base.ComparableBuildVersion // alternate version of Sync Gateway to use on startup
 	allowDbConfigEnvVars            *bool
 	maxConcurrentRevs               *int
+	UseXattrConfig                  bool
 }
 
 type collectionConfiguration uint8
@@ -234,6 +235,7 @@ func (rt *RestTester) Bucket() base.Bucket {
 	sc.Bootstrap.ServerTLSSkipVerify = base.BoolPtr(base.TestTLSSkipVerify())
 	sc.Unsupported.Serverless.Enabled = &rt.serverless
 	sc.Unsupported.AllowDbConfigEnvVars = rt.RestTesterConfig.allowDbConfigEnvVars
+	sc.Unsupported.UseXattrConfig = &rt.UseXattrConfig
 	sc.Replicator.MaxConcurrentRevs = rt.RestTesterConfig.maxConcurrentRevs
 	if rt.serverless {
 		if !rt.PersistentConfig {