diff --git a/src/MySQLConnection.cc b/src/MySQLConnection.cc
index 6a2d3f59b..9f0bfb8bc 100644
--- a/src/MySQLConnection.cc
+++ b/src/MySQLConnection.cc
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ bool MySQLConnection::open() {
   }
   if (mysql_real_connect(conn, host_.c_str(), username_.c_str(), password_.c_str(),
                          dbName_.c_str(), port_, nullptr, 0) == nullptr) {
-    close();
     LOG(ERROR) << "mysql_real_connect failed: " << mysql_error(conn);
+    close();
     return false;
   }