diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-demo-pinecone/main.go b/cmd/dendrite-demo-pinecone/main.go
index ab5414823..6c719a1ee 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-demo-pinecone/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-demo-pinecone/main.go
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ import (
 	pineconeSessions "github.com/matrix-org/pinecone/sessions"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
-	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
index d2f50906e..1226496c3 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/test"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/userapi"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
-	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-monolith-server/main.go b/cmd/dendrite-monolith-server/main.go
index 15830843a..ff980dc1c 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-monolith-server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-monolith-server/main.go
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/userapi"
 	uapi "github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/userapi/api"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
-	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-polylith-multi/main.go b/cmd/dendrite-polylith-multi/main.go
index a6f809c9e..c6a560b19 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-polylith-multi/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-polylith-multi/main.go
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/setup/base"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/setup/config"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
-	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
 type entrypoint func(base *base.BaseDendrite, cfg *config.Dendrite)
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2383d5ee9..cf56aafaa 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib v0.0.0-20221101165746-0e4a8bb6db7e
 	github.com/matrix-org/pinecone v0.0.0-20221026160848-639feeff74d6
 	github.com/matrix-org/util v0.0.0-20200807132607-55161520e1d4
+	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.15
 	github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.9.4
 	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.19.0
 	github.com/neilalexander/utp v0.1.1-0.20210727203401-54ae7b1cd5f9
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5a493a2ce..36dcfdf5e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12/go.mod h1:cbi8OIDigv2wuxKPP5vlRcQ1OAZbq2CE4Ky
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16 h1:bq3VjFmv/sOjHtdEhmkEV4x1AJtvUvOJ2PFAZ5+peKQ=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16/go.mod h1:kYGgaQfpe5nmfYZH+SKPsOc2e4SrIfOl2e/yFXSvRLM=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.15 h1:vfoHhTN1af61xCRSWzFIWzx2YskyMTwHLrExkBOjvxI=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.15/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
 github.com/mattomatic/dijkstra v0.0.0-20130617153013-6f6d134eb237/go.mod h1:UOnLAUmVG5paym8pD3C4B9BQylUDC2vXFJJpT7JrlEA=
 github.com/matttproud/golang_protobuf_extensions v1.0.1/go.mod h1:D8He9yQNgCq6Z5Ld7szi9bcBfOoFv/3dc6xSMkL2PC0=
 github.com/matttproud/golang_protobuf_extensions v1.0.2-0.20181231171920-c182affec369 h1:I0XW9+e1XWDxdcEniV4rQAIOPUGDq67JSCiRCgGCZLI=
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/migrate_test.go b/internal/sqlutil/migrate_test.go
index aa952f624..2d4fe4c67 100644
--- a/internal/sqlutil/migrate_test.go
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/migrate_test.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func Test_migrations_Up(t *testing.T) {
 
 		for _, tt := range tests {
 			t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-				driverName := "sqlite"
+				driverName := sqlutil.SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME
 				if dbType == test.DBTypePostgres {
 					driverName = "postgres"
 				}
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func Test_insertMigration(t *testing.T) {
 	test.WithAllDatabases(t, func(t *testing.T, dbType test.DBType) {
 		conStr, close := test.PrepareDBConnectionString(t, dbType)
 		defer close()
-		driverName := "sqlite"
+		driverName := sqlutil.SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME
 		if dbType == test.DBTypePostgres {
 			driverName = "postgres"
 		}
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_cgo.go b/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_cgo.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..efb743fc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_cgo.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+//go:build cgo
+// +build cgo
+
+package sqlutil
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+)
+
+const SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME = "sqlite3"
+
+func sqliteDSNExtension(dsn string) string {
+	return dsn
+}
+
+func sqliteDriver() *sqlite3.SQLiteDriver {
+	return &sqlite3.SQLiteDriver{}
+}
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_native.go b/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_native.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed500afc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/sqlite_native.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+//go:build !cgo
+// +build !cgo
+
+package sqlutil
+
+import (
+	"modernc.org/sqlite"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+const SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME = "sqlite"
+
+func sqliteDSNExtension(dsn string) string {
+	// add query parameters to the dsn
+	if strings.Contains(dsn, "?") {
+		dsn += "&"
+	} else {
+		dsn += "?"
+	}
+
+	// wait some time before erroring if the db is locked
+	// https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite/-/issues/106#note_1058094993
+	dsn += "_pragma=busy_timeout%3d10000"
+	return dsn
+}
+
+func sqliteDriver() *sqlite.Driver {
+	return &sqlite.Driver{}
+}
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/sqlutil.go b/internal/sqlutil/sqlutil.go
index b0c339294..39a067e52 100644
--- a/internal/sqlutil/sqlutil.go
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/sqlutil.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/setup/config"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -21,22 +20,12 @@ func Open(dbProperties *config.DatabaseOptions, writer Writer) (*sql.DB, error)
 	var driverName, dsn string
 	switch {
 	case dbProperties.ConnectionString.IsSQLite():
-		driverName = "sqlite"
+		driverName = SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME
 		dsn, err = ParseFileURI(dbProperties.ConnectionString)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("ParseFileURI: %w", err)
 		}
-
-		// add query parameters to the dsn
-		if strings.Contains(dsn, "?") {
-			dsn += "&"
-		} else {
-			dsn += "?"
-		}
-
-		// wait some time before erroring if the db is locked
-		// https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite/-/issues/106#note_1058094993
-		dsn += "_pragma=busy_timeout%3d10000"
+		dsn = sqliteDSNExtension(dsn)
 	case dbProperties.ConnectionString.IsPostgres():
 		driverName = "postgres"
 		dsn = string(dbProperties.ConnectionString)
@@ -51,7 +40,7 @@ func Open(dbProperties *config.DatabaseOptions, writer Writer) (*sql.DB, error)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if driverName != "sqlite" {
+	if driverName != SQLITE_DRIVER_NAME {
 		logger := logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 			"max_open_conns":    dbProperties.MaxOpenConns(),
 			"max_idle_conns":    dbProperties.MaxIdleConns(),
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/trace_driver.go b/internal/sqlutil/trace_driver.go
index ae64bced3..a2e0d12e2 100644
--- a/internal/sqlutil/trace_driver.go
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/trace_driver.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/lib/pq"
 	"github.com/ngrok/sqlmw"
-	sqlite "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
 func registerDrivers() {
@@ -31,6 +30,6 @@ func registerDrivers() {
 	}
 	// install the wrapped drivers
 	sql.Register("postgres-trace", sqlmw.Driver(&pq.Driver{}, new(traceInterceptor)))
-	sql.Register("sqlite3-trace", sqlmw.Driver(&sqlite.Driver{}, new(traceInterceptor)))
+	sql.Register("sqlite3-trace", sqlmw.Driver(sqliteDriver(), new(traceInterceptor)))
 
 }
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint.go b/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint.go
index f821f73bc..767a586ec 100644
--- a/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint.go
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint.go
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-//go:build !wasm
-// +build !wasm
+//go:build !wasm && !cgo
+// +build !wasm,!cgo
 
 package sqlutil
 
diff --git a/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint_cgo.go b/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint_cgo.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..edeb7c450
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/sqlutil/unique_constraint_cgo.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+//go:build !wasm && cgo
+// +build !wasm,cgo
+
+package sqlutil
+
+import (
+	"github.com/lib/pq"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+)
+
+// IsUniqueConstraintViolationErr returns true if the error is an unique_violation error
+func IsUniqueConstraintViolationErr(err error) bool {
+	switch e := err.(type) {
+	case *pq.Error:
+		return e.Code == "23505"
+	case *sqlite3.Error:
+		return e.Code == sqlite3.ErrConstraint
+	case sqlite3.Error:
+		return e.Code == sqlite3.ErrConstraint
+	}
+	return false
+}