diff --git a/libraries/cms/application/cms.php b/libraries/cms/application/cms.php
index ad46c24904b58..c460f0082f237 100644
--- a/libraries/cms/application/cms.php
+++ b/libraries/cms/application/cms.php
@@ -178,34 +178,57 @@ public function checkSession()
 		// If the session record doesn't exist initialise it.
 		if (!$exists)
 		{
-			$query->clear();
+			// Get the session handler from the configuration.
+			$handler = $this->get('session_handler', 'none');
 
 			if ($session->isNew())
 			{
-				$query->insert($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-					->columns($db->quoteName('session_id') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('client_id') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('time'))
-					->values($db->quote($session->getId()) . ', ' . (int) $this->getClientId() . ', ' . $db->quote((int) time()));
-				$db->setQuery($query);
+				// Default column/value set
+				$columns = array($db->quoteName('session_id'), $db->quoteName('client_id'));
+				$values  = array($db->quote($session->getId()), (int) $this->getClientId());
+
+				// If the database session handler is not in use, append the time to the row
+				if ($handler != 'database')
+				{
+					$columns[] = $db->quoteName('time');
+					$values[]  = (int) time();
+				}
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				$query->insert($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-					->columns(
-						$db->quoteName('session_id') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('client_id') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('guest') . ', ' .
-						$db->quoteName('time') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('userid') . ', ' . $db->quoteName('username')
-					)
-					->values(
-						$db->quote($session->getId()) . ', ' . (int) $this->getClientId() . ', ' . (int) $user->get('guest') . ', ' .
-						$db->quote((int) $session->get('session.timer.start')) . ', ' . (int) $user->get('id') . ', ' . $db->quote($user->get('username'))
-					);
-
-				$db->setQuery($query);
+				// Default column/value set
+				$columns = array(
+					$db->quoteName('session_id'),
+					$db->quoteName('client_id'),
+					$db->quoteName('guest'),
+					$db->quoteName('userid'),
+					$db->quoteName('username')
+				);
+				$values = array(
+					$db->quote($session->getId()),
+					(int) $this->getClientId(),
+					(int) $user->guest,
+					(int) $user->id,
+					$db->quote($user->username)
+				);
+
+				// If the database session handler is not in use, append the time to the row
+				if ($handler != 'database')
+				{
+					$columns[] = $db->quoteName('time');
+					$values[]  = (int) $session->get('session.timer.start');
+				}
 			}
 
 			// If the insert failed, exit the application.
 			try
 			{
-				$db->execute();
+				$db->setQuery(
+					$db->getQuery(true)
+						->insert($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+						->columns($columns)
+						->values(implode(', ', $values))
+				)->execute();
 			}
 			catch (RuntimeException $e)
 			{
@@ -748,28 +771,40 @@ public function loadSession(JSession $session = null)
 		$session->start();
 
 		// TODO: At some point we need to get away from having session data always in the db.
-		$db = JFactory::getDbo();
-
-		// Remove expired sessions from the database.
+		$db   = JFactory::getDbo();
 		$time = time();
 
-		if ($time % 2)
-		{
-			// The modulus introduces a little entropy, making the flushing less accurate
-			// but fires the query less than half the time.
-			$query = $db->getQuery(true)
-				->delete($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-				->where($db->quoteName('time') . ' < ' . $db->quote((int) ($time - $session->getExpire())));
-
-			$db->setQuery($query);
-			$db->execute();
-		}
-
 		// Get the session handler from the configuration.
 		$handler = $this->get('session_handler', 'none');
 
-		if (($handler != 'database' && ($time % 2 || $session->isNew()))
-			|| ($handler == 'database' && $session->isNew()))
+		// Purge expired session data if not using the database handler; the handler will run garbage collection as a native part of PHP's API
+		if ($handler != 'database' && $time % 2)
+		{
+			// The modulus introduces a little entropy, making the flushing less accurate but fires the query less than half the time.
+			try
+			{
+				$db->setQuery(
+					$db->getQuery(true)
+						->delete($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+						->where($db->quoteName('time') . ' < ' . $db->quote((int) ($time - $session->getExpire())))
+				)->execute();
+			}
+			catch (RuntimeException $e)
+			{
+				/*
+				 * The database API logs errors on failures so we don't need to add any error handling mechanisms here.
+				 * Since garbage collection does not result in a fatal error when run in the session API, we don't allow it here either.
+				 */
+			}
+		}
+
+		/*
+		 * Check for extra session metadata when:
+		 *
+		 * 1) The database handler is in use and the session is new
+		 * 2) The database handler is not in use and the time is an even numbered second or the session is new
+		 */
+		if (($handler != 'database' && ($time % 2 || $session->isNew())) || ($handler == 'database' && $session->isNew()))
 		{
 			$this->checkSession();
 		}
diff --git a/libraries/joomla/session/storage/database.php b/libraries/joomla/session/storage/database.php
index 664480a304921..926168bd90025 100644
--- a/libraries/joomla/session/storage/database.php
+++ b/libraries/joomla/session/storage/database.php
@@ -17,6 +17,68 @@
  */
 class JSessionStorageDatabase extends JSessionStorage
 {
+	/**
+	 * Flag whether gc() has been called
+	 *
+	 * @var    boolean
+	 * @since  3.5
+	 */
+	private $gcCalled = false;
+
+	/**
+	 * Lifetime for garbage collection
+	 *
+	 * @var    integer
+	 * @since  3.5
+	 */
+	private $gcLifetime;
+
+	/**
+	 * Close the session
+	 *
+	 * @return  boolean  True on success, false otherwise
+	 *
+	 * @since   3.5
+	 */
+	public function close()
+	{
+		$db = JFactory::getDbo();
+
+		if ($this->gcCalled)
+		{
+			$query = $db->getQuery(true)
+				->delete($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+				->where($db->quoteName('time') . ' < ' . $db->quote((int) $this->gcLifetime));
+
+			// Remove expired sessions from the database.
+			$db->setQuery($query)->execute();
+
+			$this->gcCalled   = false;
+			$this->gcLifetime = null;
+		}
+
+		$db->disconnect();
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Initialize session
+	 *
+	 * @param   string  $save_path  The path where to store/retrieve the session
+	 * @param   string  $id         The session id
+	 *
+	 * @return  boolean  True on success, false otherwise
+	 *
+	 * @since   3.5
+	 */
+	public function open($save_path, $id)
+	{
+		JFactory::getDbo()->connect();
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Read the data for a particular session identifier from the SessionHandler backend.
 	 *
@@ -36,8 +98,8 @@ public function read($id)
 			// Get the session data from the database table.
 			$query = $db->getQuery(true)
 				->select($db->quoteName('data'))
-			->from($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-			->where($db->quoteName('session_id') . ' = ' . $db->quote($id));
+				->from($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+				->where($db->quoteName('session_id') . ' = ' . $db->quote($id));
 
 			$db->setQuery($query);
 
@@ -49,7 +111,7 @@ public function read($id)
 		}
 		catch (Exception $e)
 		{
-			return false;
+			return '';
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -72,23 +134,33 @@ public function write($id, $data)
 
 		try
 		{
+			// Figure out if a row exists for the session ID
 			$query = $db->getQuery(true)
-				->update($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-				->set($db->quoteName('data') . ' = ' . $db->quote($data))
-				->set($db->quoteName('time') . ' = ' . $db->quote((int) time()))
+				->select($db->quoteName('session_id'))
+				->from($db->quoteName('#__session'))
 				->where($db->quoteName('session_id') . ' = ' . $db->quote($id));
 
-			// Try to update the session data in the database table.
-			$db->setQuery($query);
+			$idExists = $db->setQuery($query)->loadResult();
+
+			$query = $db->getQuery(true);
 
-			if (!$db->execute())
+			if ($idExists)
 			{
-				return false;
+				$query->update($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+					->set($db->quoteName('data') . ' = ' . $db->quote($data))
+					->set($db->quoteName('time') . ' = ' . $db->quote((int) time()))
+					->where($db->quoteName('session_id') . ' = ' . $db->quote($id));
 			}
-			/* Since $db->execute did not throw an exception, so the query was successful.
-			Either the data changed, or the data was identical.
-			In either case we are done.
-			*/
+			else
+			{
+				$query->insert($db->quoteName('#__session'))
+					->columns(array($db->quoteName('data'), $db->quoteName('time'), $db->quoteName('session_id')))
+					->values(implode(', ', array($db->quote($data), (int) time(), $db->quote($id))));
+			}
+
+			// Try to insert the session data in the database table.
+			$db->setQuery($query)->execute();
+
 			return true;
 		}
 		catch (Exception $e)
@@ -118,9 +190,9 @@ public function destroy($id)
 				->where($db->quoteName('session_id') . ' = ' . $db->quote($id));
 
 			// Remove a session from the database.
-			$db->setQuery($query);
+			$db->setQuery($query)->execute();
 
-			return (boolean) $db->execute();
+			return true;
 		}
 		catch (Exception $e)
 		{
@@ -139,26 +211,10 @@ public function destroy($id)
 	 */
 	public function gc($lifetime = 1440)
 	{
-		// Get the database connection object and verify its connected.
-		$db = JFactory::getDbo();
-
-		// Determine the timestamp threshold with which to purge old sessions.
-		$past = time() - $lifetime;
-
-		try
-		{
-			$query = $db->getQuery(true)
-				->delete($db->quoteName('#__session'))
-				->where($db->quoteName('time') . ' < ' . $db->quote((int) $past));
+		// We'll delay garbage collection until the session is closed to prevent potential issues mid-cycle
+		$this->gcLifetime = time() - $lifetime;
+		$this->gcCalled   = true;
 
-			// Remove expired sessions from the database.
-			$db->setQuery($query);
-
-			return (boolean) $db->execute();
-		}
-		catch (Exception $e)
-		{
-			return false;
-		}
+		return true;
 	}
 }