diff --git a/isso/queue/sqlite.py b/isso/queue/sqlite.py
index 8ee97a4..7d054ad 100644
--- a/isso/queue/sqlite.py
+++ b/isso/queue/sqlite.py
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import json
 import time
 
+from sqlalchemy import Table, Column, MetaData, create_engine
+from sqlalchemy import Integer, Float, String, LargeBinary
+from sqlalchemy.sql import select, func
+
 from . import Queue, Full, Empty, Message
 
 
@@ -13,46 +17,51 @@ unpickle = lambda val: json.loads(val.decode("utf-8"))
 
 
 class SQLite3Queue(Queue):
-    """Implements a shared queue using SQLite3.
-
-    :param connection: SQLite3 connection
+    """Implements a shared queue using SQLAlchemy Core
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, connection, maxlen=-1, timeout=2**10):
+    def __init__(self, db, maxlen=-1, timeout=2**10):
         super(SQLite3Queue, self).__init__(maxlen, timeout)
-        self.connection = connection
-        self.connection.execute(
-            'CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS queue ('
-            '  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,'
-            '  type TEXT,'
-            '  data BLOB,'
-            '  timestamp FLOAT,'
-            '  wait FLOAT)')
+        self.metadata = MetaData()
+        self.engine = create_engine(db)
+        self.queue = Table("queue", self.metadata,
+            Column("id", Integer, primary_key=True),
+            Column("type", String(16)),
+            Column("data", LargeBinary(65535)),
+            Column("timestamp", Float),
+            Column("wait", Float))
+
+        self.metadata.create_all(self.engine)
 
     def put(self, item):
-        with self.connection.transaction as con:
-            count = con.execute('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM queue').fetchone()[0] + 1
+        with self.engine.begin() as con:
+            count = self._size(con) + 1
             if -1 < self.maxlen < count:
                 raise Full
 
-            con.execute(
-                'INSERT INTO queue (type, data, timestamp, wait) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)',
-                (item.type, pickle(item.data), item.timestamp, item.wait))
+            con.execute(self.queue.insert().values(
+                type=item.type, data=pickle(item.data),
+                timestamp=item.timestamp, wait=item.wait))
 
     def get(self):
-        with self.connection.transaction as con:
-            row = con.execute(
-                'SELECT id, type, data FROM queue '
-                'WHERE (? > timestamp + wait) ORDER BY timestamp LIMIT 1',
-                (time.time(), )).fetchone()
-            if not row:
+        with self.engine.begin() as con:
+            obj = con.execute(
+                select([self.queue.c.id, self.queue.c.type, self.queue.c.data])
+                .where(time.time() > self.queue.c.timestamp + self.queue.c.wait)
+                .order_by(self.queue.c.timestamp)
+                .limit(1)).fetchone()
+
+            if not obj:
                 raise Empty
 
-            id, type, data = row
-            con.execute('DELETE FROM queue WHERE id = ?', (str(id), ))
-            return Message(type, unpickle(data))
+            _id, _type, data = obj
+            con.execute(self.queue.delete(self.queue.c.id == _id))
+
+            return Message(_type, unpickle(data))
+
+    def _size(self, con):
+        return con.execute(select([func.count(self.queue)])).fetchone()[0]
 
     @property
     def size(self):
-        with self.connection.transaction as con:
-            return con.execute('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM queue').fetchone()[0]
+        return self._size(self.engine.connect())
diff --git a/isso/tests/test_queue.py b/isso/tests/test_queue.py
index ba2a197..7d21c48 100644
--- a/isso/tests/test_queue.py
+++ b/isso/tests/test_queue.py
@@ -100,4 +100,4 @@ class TestQueue(unittest.TestCase):
 class TestSQLite3Queue(TestQueue):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.cls = lambda *x, **z: SQLite3Queue(SQLite3(":memory:"), *x, **z)
+        self.cls = lambda *x, **z: SQLite3Queue("sqlite:///:memory:", *x, **z)