diff --git a/meilisearch-auth/src/dump.rs b/meilisearch-auth/src/dump.rs
index 4b7365005..77a4aa5ca 100644
--- a/meilisearch-auth/src/dump.rs
+++ b/meilisearch-auth/src/dump.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ const KEYS_PATH: &str = "keys";
 
 impl AuthController {
     pub fn dump(src: impl AsRef<Path>, dst: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<()> {
-        let store = HeedAuthStore::new(&src)?;
+        let mut store = HeedAuthStore::new(&src)?;
+
+        // do not attempt to close the database on drop!
+        store.set_drop_on_close(false);
 
         let keys_file_path = dst.as_ref().join(KEYS_PATH);
 
diff --git a/meilisearch-auth/src/store.rs b/meilisearch-auth/src/store.rs
index 89c110f25..757a8338b 100644
--- a/meilisearch-auth/src/store.rs
+++ b/meilisearch-auth/src/store.rs
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ pub struct HeedAuthStore {
     env: Arc<Env>,
     keys: Database<ByteSlice, SerdeJson<Key>>,
     action_keyid_index_expiration: Database<KeyIdActionCodec, SerdeJson<Option<DateTime<Utc>>>>,
+    should_close_on_drop: bool,
 }
 
 impl Drop for HeedAuthStore {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
-        if Arc::strong_count(&self.env) == 1 {
+        if self.should_close_on_drop && Arc::strong_count(&self.env) == 1 {
             self.env.as_ref().clone().prepare_for_closing();
         }
     }
@@ -53,9 +54,14 @@ impl HeedAuthStore {
             env,
             keys,
             action_keyid_index_expiration,
+            should_close_on_drop: true,
         })
     }
 
+    pub fn set_drop_on_close(&mut self, v: bool) {
+        self.should_close_on_drop = v;
+    }
+
     pub fn is_empty(&self) -> Result<bool> {
         let rtxn = self.env.read_txn()?;