diff --git a/src/Custom.php b/src/Custom.php
index 572ac51..24371b0 100644
--- a/src/Custom.php
+++ b/src/Custom.php
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ class Custom
     {
         try {
             $stmt = self::runQuery($query, $parameters, is_null($pdo) ? $actualPDO = Configuration::dbConn() : $pdo);
-            $stmt = null;
         } finally {
+            $stmt = null;
             if (isset($actualPDO)) $actualPDO = null;
         }
     }
@@ -110,11 +110,12 @@ class Custom
      */
     public static function scalar(string $query, array $parameters, Mapper $mapper, ?PDO $pdo = null): mixed
     {
-        $stmt = self::runQuery($query, $parameters, $pdo ?? Configuration::dbConn());
-        if ($stmt->rowCount() > 0) {
-            $first = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_NUM);
-            return $first ? $mapper->map($first) : false;
+        try {
+            $stmt = self::runQuery($query, $parameters, is_null($pdo) ? $actualPDO = Configuration::dbConn() : $pdo);
+            return ($first = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_NUM)) ? $mapper->map($first) : false;
+        } finally {
+            $stmt = null;
+            if (isset($actualPDO)) $actualPDO = null;
         }
-        return false;
     }
 }