diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog for persistent-sqlite
 
+## 2.13.2
+
+* [#1488](https://github.com/yesodweb/persistent/pull/1488)
+    * Add `openRawSqliteConn` for creating `RawSqlite SqlBackend` connections
+      that aren't automatically cleaned-up.
+
 ## 2.13.1.1
 
 * [#1459](https://github.com/yesodweb/persistent/pull/1459)
diff --git a/Database/Persist/Sqlite.hs b/Database/Persist/Sqlite.hs
--- a/Database/Persist/Sqlite.hs
+++ b/Database/Persist/Sqlite.hs
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
     , ForeignKeyViolation(..)
     , checkForeignKeys
     , RawSqlite
+    , openRawSqliteConn
     , persistentBackend
     , rawSqliteConnection
     , withRawSqliteConnInfo
@@ -94,8 +95,8 @@
 import qualified Data.Conduit.List as CL
 import Data.Foldable (toList)
 import qualified Data.HashMap.Lazy as HashMap
-import Data.Int (Int64)
 import Data.IORef (newIORef)
+import Data.Int (Int64)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Pool (Pool)
 import Data.Text (Text)
@@ -937,6 +938,22 @@
     { _persistentBackend :: backend -- ^ The persistent backend
     , _rawSqliteConnection :: Sqlite.Connection -- ^ The underlying `Sqlite.Connection`
     }
+
+-- | Open a @'RawSqlite' 'SqlBackend'@ connection from a 'SqliteConnectionInfo'.
+--
+-- When using this function, the caller has to accept the responsibility of
+-- cleaning up the resulting connection. To do this, use 'close' with the
+-- 'rawSqliteConnection' - it's enough to simply drop the 'persistBackend'
+-- afterwards.
+--
+-- @since 2.13.2
+openRawSqliteConn
+    :: (MonadUnliftIO m, MonadLoggerIO m)
+    => SqliteConnectionInfo
+    -> m (RawSqlite SqlBackend)
+openRawSqliteConn connInfo = do
+    logFunc <- askLoggerIO
+    liftIO $ openWith RawSqlite connInfo logFunc
 
 instance BackendCompatible b (RawSqlite b) where
     projectBackend = _persistentBackend
diff --git a/cbits/sqlite3.c b/cbits/sqlite3.c
# file too large to diff: cbits/sqlite3.c
diff --git a/persistent-sqlite.cabal b/persistent-sqlite.cabal
--- a/persistent-sqlite.cabal
+++ b/persistent-sqlite.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:            persistent-sqlite
-version:         2.13.1.1
+version:         2.13.2.0
 license:         MIT
 license-file:    LICENSE
 author:          Michael Snoyman <michael@snoyman.com>