diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 1cea043..266369b 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"syscall"
-	"database/sql"
-
 
 	"github.com/BurntSushi/toml"
 	"github.com/bwmarrin/discordgo"
@@ -15,9 +14,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	config	Config
-	client	*discordgo.Session
-	db	*sql.DB
+	config Config
+	client *discordgo.Session
+	db     *sql.DB
 )
 
 type Config struct {
@@ -38,16 +37,13 @@ type Database struct {
 	Password string `toml:"password"`
 }
 
-
 func loadConfig(filename string) (Config, error) {
 	var config Config
 	_, err := toml.DecodeFile(filename, &config)
 	return config, err
 }
 
-func connectDb(config Config) {
-	var err error
-
+func connectDb(config Config) (*sql.DB, error) {
 	connectionString := fmt.Sprintf(
 		"host=%s port=%d user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable",
 		config.Database.Host,
@@ -60,14 +56,17 @@ func connectDb(config Config) {
 
 	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connectionString)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Error connecting to the database: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error connecting to the database: %v", err)
 	}
-	defer db.Close()
 
 	err = db.Ping()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Error pinging the database: %v", err)
+		db.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error pinging the database: %v", err)
 	}
+
+	log.Println("Successfully connected to the database.")
+	return db, nil
 }
 
 func init() {
@@ -84,9 +83,11 @@ func init() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	connectDb(config)
-
-
+	db, err = connectDb(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println("Error initializing db connection:", err)
+		return
+	}
 }
 
 func main() {
@@ -103,7 +104,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error opening connection:", err)
 		return
-	}
+	}	
 
 	stop := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	signal.Notify(stop, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
@@ -111,5 +112,9 @@ func main() {
 
 	log.Println("Gracefully shutting down.")
 	client.Close()
+
+	if db != nil {
+		db.Close()
+	}
 }