diff --git a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/duckdb.go b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/duckdb.go
index 8c37dbd1cfa..ad683edb414 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/duckdb.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/duckdb.go
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ func (d Driver) Open(instanceID string, cfgMap map[string]any, st *storage.Clien
 	if err != nil {
 		// Check for another process currently accessing the DB
 		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Could not set lock on file") {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to open database (is Rill already running?): %w", err)
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("failed to open database (is Rill already running?): %w", err))
 		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_duckDB_to_duckDB.go b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_duckDB_to_duckDB.go
index 5f9718463f0..bda440fe593 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_duckDB_to_duckDB.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_duckDB_to_duckDB.go
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"net"
 	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
 	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
 	"github.com/rilldata/rill/runtime/drivers"
 	"github.com/rilldata/rill/runtime/pkg/duckdbsql"
@@ -123,7 +125,8 @@ func (t *duckDBToDuckDB) transferFromExternalDB(ctx context.Context, srcProps *d
 	safeTempTable := safeName(sinkProps.Table + "__temp__")
 	switch t.externalDBType {
 	case "mysql":
-		initSQL = append(initSQL, "INSTALL 'MYSQL'; LOAD 'MYSQL';", fmt.Sprintf("ATTACH %s AS %s (TYPE mysql, READ_ONLY)", safeSQLString(srcProps.Database), safeDBName))
+		dsn := rewriteMySQLDSN(srcProps.Database)
+		initSQL = append(initSQL, "INSTALL 'MYSQL'; LOAD 'MYSQL';", fmt.Sprintf("ATTACH %s AS %s (TYPE mysql, READ_ONLY)", safeSQLString(dsn), safeDBName))
 	case "postgres":
 		initSQL = append(initSQL, "INSTALL 'POSTGRES'; LOAD 'POSTGRES';", fmt.Sprintf("ATTACH %s AS %s (TYPE postgres, READ_ONLY)", safeSQLString(srcProps.Database), safeDBName))
 	case "duckdb":
@@ -209,3 +212,44 @@ func rewriteLocalPaths(ast *duckdbsql.AST, basePath string, allowHostAccess bool
 
 	return ast.Format()
 }
+
+// rewriteMySQLDSN rewrites a MySQL DSN to a format that DuckDB expects.
+// DuckDB does not support the URI based DSN format yet. It expects the DSN to be in the form of key=value pairs.
+// This function parses the MySQL URI based DSN and converts it to the key=value format. It only converts the common parameters.
+// For more advanced parameters like SSL configs, the user should manually convert the DSN to the key=value format.
+// If there is an error parsing the DSN, it returns the DSN as is.
+func rewriteMySQLDSN(dsn string) string {
+	cfg, err := mysql.ParseDSN(dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		// If we can't parse the DSN, just return it as is. May be it is already in the form duckdb expects.
+		return dsn
+	}
+
+	var sb strings.Builder
+
+	if cfg.User != "" {
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("user=%s ", cfg.User))
+	}
+	if cfg.Passwd != "" {
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("password=%s ", cfg.Passwd))
+	}
+	if cfg.DBName != "" {
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("database=%s ", cfg.DBName))
+	}
+	switch cfg.Net {
+	case "unix":
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("socket=%s ", cfg.Addr))
+	case "tcp", "tcp6":
+		host, port, err := net.SplitHostPort(cfg.Addr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return dsn
+		}
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("host=%s ", host))
+		if port != "" {
+			sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("port=%s ", port))
+		}
+	default:
+		return dsn
+	}
+	return sb.String()
+}
diff --git a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_mysql_to_duckDB_test.go b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_mysql_to_duckDB_test.go
index d3708342c85..db8f3575e9a 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_mysql_to_duckDB_test.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter_mysql_to_duckDB_test.go
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func TestMySQLToDuckDBTransfer(t *testing.T) {
 	defer db.Close()
 
 	t.Run("AllDataTypes", func(t *testing.T) {
-		allMySQLDataTypesTest(t, db, fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=myuser password=mypassword port=%v database=mydb", host, port.Int()))
+		allMySQLDataTypesTest(t, db, dsn)
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/runtime/pkg/rduckdb/db.go b/runtime/pkg/rduckdb/db.go
index 0eb1dca7c9e..13040c192da 100644
--- a/runtime/pkg/rduckdb/db.go
+++ b/runtime/pkg/rduckdb/db.go
@@ -274,6 +274,15 @@ func NewDB(ctx context.Context, opts *DBOptions) (DB, error) {
 		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	// We want to prevent multiple rill process accessing same db files.
+	// All the files are accessed in read-only mode so it is possible for multiple rill process to access same db files.
+	// To prevent this we attach a dummy db file to the main in-memory db in write mode.
+	// This is required for local rill only but since there is no way to determine it in this package so we do it for all.
+	_, err = db.dbHandle.ExecContext(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("ATTACH %s AS __ymmud__", safeSQLString(filepath.Join(db.localPath, "main.db"))))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	go db.localDBMonitor()
 	return db, nil
 }