diff --git a/broadcaster/_backends/redis.py b/broadcaster/_backends/redis.py
index 2c4aeba..78ed7eb 100644
--- a/broadcaster/_backends/redis.py
+++ b/broadcaster/_backends/redis.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
+import asyncio
 import typing
-from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
-import asyncio_redis
+from redis import asyncio as redis
 
 from .._base import Event
 from .base import BroadcastBackend
@@ -9,30 +9,41 @@
 
 class RedisBackend(BroadcastBackend):
     def __init__(self, url: str):
-        parsed_url = urlparse(url)
-        self._host = parsed_url.hostname or "localhost"
-        self._port = parsed_url.port or 6379
-        self._password = parsed_url.password or None
+        self._conn = redis.Redis.from_url(url)
+        self._pubsub = self._conn.pubsub()
+        self._ready = asyncio.Event()
+        self._queue: asyncio.Queue[Event] = asyncio.Queue()
+        self._listener = asyncio.create_task(self._pubsub_listener())
 
     async def connect(self) -> None:
-        kwargs = {"host": self._host, "port": self._port, "password": self._password}
-        self._pub_conn = await asyncio_redis.Connection.create(**kwargs)
-        self._sub_conn = await asyncio_redis.Connection.create(**kwargs)
-        self._subscriber = await self._sub_conn.start_subscribe()
+        await self._pubsub.connect()
 
     async def disconnect(self) -> None:
-        self._pub_conn.close()
-        self._sub_conn.close()
+        await self._pubsub.aclose()
+        await self._conn.aclose()
+        self._listener.cancel()
 
     async def subscribe(self, channel: str) -> None:
-        await self._subscriber.subscribe([channel])
+        self._ready.set()
+        await self._pubsub.subscribe(channel)
 
     async def unsubscribe(self, channel: str) -> None:
-        await self._subscriber.unsubscribe([channel])
+        await self._pubsub.unsubscribe(channel)
 
     async def publish(self, channel: str, message: typing.Any) -> None:
-        await self._pub_conn.publish(channel, message)
+        await self._conn.publish(channel, message)
 
     async def next_published(self) -> Event:
-        message = await self._subscriber.next_published()
-        return Event(channel=message.channel, message=message.value)
+        return await self._queue.get()
+
+    async def _pubsub_listener(self) -> None:
+        # redis-py does not listen to the pubsub connection if there are no channels subscribed
+        # so we need to wait until the first channel is subscribed to start listening
+        await self._ready.wait()
+        async for message in self._pubsub.listen():
+            if message["type"] == "message":
+                event = Event(
+                    channel=message["channel"].decode(),
+                    message=message["data"].decode(),
+                )
+                await self._queue.put(event)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ef59da4..10f7cc5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
-redis = ["asyncio-redis"]
+redis = ["redis"]
 postgres = ["asyncpg"]
 kafka = ["aiokafka"]
 test =  ["pytest", "pytest-asyncio"]