diff --git a/downloader/downloader/main.py b/downloader/downloader/main.py
index 50989ac..3189fcb 100644
--- a/downloader/downloader/main.py
+++ b/downloader/downloader/main.py
@@ -265,6 +265,12 @@ class StreamWorker(object):
 		self.stopping = gevent.event.Event() # set to stop main loop
 		self.getters = {} # map from url to SegmentGetter
 		self.done = gevent.event.Event() # set when stopped and all getters are done
+		# Set up a Session for connection pooling. Note that if we have an issue,
+		# a new worker is created and so it gets a new session, just in case there's a problem
+		# with our connection pool.
+		# This worker's SegmentGetters will use its session by default for performance,
+		# but will fall back to a new one if something goes wrong.
+		self.session = requests.Session()
 
 	def __repr__(self):
 		return "<{} at 0x{:x} for stream {!r}>".format(type(self).__name__, id(self), self.stream)
@@ -307,7 +313,7 @@ class StreamWorker(object):
 			self.logger.debug("Getting media playlist {}".format(self.url))
 			try:
 				with soft_hard_timeout(self.logger, "getting media playlist", self.FETCH_TIMEOUTS, self.trigger_new_worker):
-					playlist = twitch.get_media_playlist(self.url)
+					playlist = twitch.get_media_playlist(self.url, session=self.session)
 			except Exception as e:
 				self.logger.warning("Failed to fetch media playlist {}".format(self.url), exc_info=True)
 				self.trigger_new_worker()
@@ -332,7 +338,15 @@ class StreamWorker(object):
 				if segment.uri not in self.getters:
 					if date is None:
 						raise ValueError("Cannot determine date of segment")
-					self.getters[segment.uri] = SegmentGetter(self.logger, self.manager.base_dir, self.manager.channel, self.stream, segment, date)
+					self.getters[segment.uri] = SegmentGetter(
+						self.logger,
+						self.session,
+						self.manager.base_dir,
+						self.manager.channel,
+						self.stream,
+						segment,
+						date,
+					)
 					gevent.spawn(self.getters[segment.uri].run)
 				if date is not None:
 					date += datetime.timedelta(seconds=segment.duration)
@@ -376,7 +390,7 @@ class SegmentGetter(object):
 	FETCH_HEADERS_TIMEOUTS = 5, 30
 	FETCH_FULL_TIMEOUTS = 15, 240
 
-	def __init__(self, parent_logger, base_dir, channel, stream, segment, date):
+	def __init__(self, parent_logger, session, base_dir, channel, stream, segment, date):
 		self.logger = parent_logger.getChild("SegmentGetter@{:x}".format(id(self)))
 		self.base_dir = base_dir
 		self.channel = channel
@@ -386,6 +400,8 @@ class SegmentGetter(object):
 		self.prefix = self.make_path_prefix()
 		self.retry = None # Event, set to begin retrying
 		self.done = gevent.event.Event() # set when file exists or we give up
+		# Our parent's connection pool, but we'll replace it if there's any issues
+		self.session = session
 
 	def run(self):
 		try:
@@ -410,6 +426,9 @@ class SegmentGetter(object):
 			# If worker has returned, and return value is true, we're done
 			if worker.ready() and worker.value:
 				break
+			# Create a new session, so we don't reuse a connection from the old session
+			# which had an error / some other issue. This is mostly just out of paranoia.
+			self.session = requests.Session()
 			# if retry not set, wait for FETCH_RETRY first
 			self.retry.wait(common.jitter(self.FETCH_RETRY))
 		self.logger.debug("Getter is done")
@@ -470,7 +489,7 @@ class SegmentGetter(object):
 			self.logger.debug("Downloading segment {} to {}".format(self.segment, temp_path))
 			with soft_hard_timeout(self.logger, "getting and writing segment", self.FETCH_FULL_TIMEOUTS, retry.set):
 				with soft_hard_timeout(self.logger, "getting segment headers", self.FETCH_HEADERS_TIMEOUTS, retry.set):
-					resp = requests.get(self.segment.uri, stream=True)
+					resp = self.session.get(self.segment.uri, stream=True)
 				# twitch returns 403 for expired segment urls, and 404 for very old urls where the original segment is gone.
 				# the latter can happen if we have a network issue that cuts us off from twitch for some time.
 				if resp.status_code in (403, 404):
diff --git a/downloader/downloader/twitch.py b/downloader/downloader/twitch.py
index ba37d6c..5e7fcfe 100644
--- a/downloader/downloader/twitch.py
+++ b/downloader/downloader/twitch.py
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ import hls_playlist
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def get_master_playlist(channel):
+def get_master_playlist(channel, session=requests):
 	"""Get the master playlist for given channel from twitch"""
-	resp = requests.get(
+	resp = session.get(
 		"https://api.twitch.tv/api/channels/{}/access_token.json".format(channel),
 		params={'as3': 't'},
 		headers={
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def get_master_playlist(channel):
 	)
 	resp.raise_for_status() # getting access token
 	token = resp.json()
-	resp = requests.get(
+	resp = session.get(
 		"https://usher.ttvnw.net/api/channel/hls/{}.m3u8".format(channel),
 		params={
 			# Taken from streamlink. Unsure what's needed and what changing things can do.
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def get_media_playlist_uris(master_playlist, target_qualities):
 	return {name: variant.uri for name, variant in variants.items()}
 
 
-def get_media_playlist(uri):
-	resp = requests.get(uri)
+def get_media_playlist(uri, session=requests):
+	resp = session.get(uri)
 	resp.raise_for_status()
 	return hls_playlist.load(resp.text, base_uri=resp.url)