diff --git a/django/core/management.py b/django/core/management.py
index afb498ae63..046031e311 100644
--- a/django/core/management.py
+++ b/django/core/management.py
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ def get_sql_delete(mod):
         for row in cursor.fetchall():
             output.append("DELETE FROM auth_admin_log WHERE content_type_id = %s;" % row[0])
 
+    # Close database connection explicitly, in case this output is being piped
+    # directly into a database client, to avoid locking issues.
+    db.db.close()
+
     return output[::-1] # Reverse it, to deal with table dependencies.
 get_sql_delete.help_doc = "Prints the DROP TABLE SQL statements for the given model module name(s)."
 get_sql_delete.args = APP_ARGS