diff --git a/awx/main/dispatch/__init__.py b/awx/main/dispatch/__init__.py
index 6ea1ae1686..5a6606ebdc 100644
--- a/awx/main/dispatch/__init__.py
+++ b/awx/main/dispatch/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import psycopg
 import select
+from copy import deepcopy
 
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
@@ -94,8 +95,8 @@ class PubSub(object):
 
 
 def create_listener_connection():
-    conf = settings.DATABASES['default'].copy()
-    conf['OPTIONS'] = conf.get('OPTIONS', {}).copy()
+    conf = deepcopy(settings.DATABASES['default'])
+    conf['OPTIONS'] = deepcopy(conf.get('OPTIONS', {}))
     # Modify the application name to distinguish from other connections the process might use
     conf['OPTIONS']['application_name'] = get_application_name(settings.CLUSTER_HOST_ID, function='listener')
 
diff --git a/awx/main/wsrelay.py b/awx/main/wsrelay.py
index d6f9c2e0b1..8a1a834295 100644
--- a/awx/main/wsrelay.py
+++ b/awx/main/wsrelay.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import json
 import logging
 import asyncio
 from typing import Dict
+from copy import deepcopy
 
 import ipaddress
 
@@ -302,14 +303,17 @@ class WebSocketRelayManager(object):
         self.stats_mgr.start()
 
         # Set up a pg_notify consumer for allowing web nodes to "provision" and "deprovision" themselves gracefully.
-        database_conf = settings.DATABASES['default'].copy()
-        database_conf['OPTIONS'] = database_conf.get('OPTIONS', {}).copy()
+        database_conf = deepcopy(settings.DATABASES['default'])
+        database_conf['OPTIONS'] = deepcopy(database_conf.get('OPTIONS', {}))
 
         for k, v in settings.LISTENER_DATABASES.get('default', {}).items():
             database_conf[k] = v
         for k, v in settings.LISTENER_DATABASES.get('default', {}).get('OPTIONS', {}).items():
             database_conf['OPTIONS'][k] = v
 
+        if 'PASSWORD' in database_conf:
+            database_conf['OPTIONS']['password'] = database_conf.pop('PASSWORD')
+
         task = None
 
         # Establishes a websocket connection to /websocket/relay on all API servers
@@ -320,7 +324,6 @@ class WebSocketRelayManager(object):
                         dbname=database_conf['NAME'],
                         host=database_conf['HOST'],
                         user=database_conf['USER'],
-                        password=database_conf['PASSWORD'],
                         port=database_conf['PORT'],
                         **database_conf.get("OPTIONS", {}),
                     )