diff --git a/src/database_wrapper.mjs b/src/database_wrapper.mjs
index 6bb39ad..caa3c74 100644
--- a/src/database_wrapper.mjs
+++ b/src/database_wrapper.mjs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import * as sqlite3 from "sqlite3";
+
 import { NodeAdapterError } from "./node_adapter_error.mjs";
 import { QueryWrapper } from "./query_wrapper.mjs";
 import { ResponseWrapper } from "./response_wrapper.mjs";
@@ -5,8 +7,25 @@ import { enableDebug, log } from "./log.mjs";
 
 
 export class DatabaseWrapper {
-  constructor(db) {
-    this.db = db;
+  constructor(dbName) {
+    this.dbName = dbName;
+  }
+
+  open() {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      const db = new sqlite3.Database(
+        this.dbName,
+        sqlite3.OPEN_READWRITE | sqlite3.OPEN_CREATE,
+        (err) => {
+          if (err) {
+            reject(NodeAdapterError.from(err));
+            return;
+          }
+          this.db = db;
+          resolve();
+        }
+      );
+    });
   }
 
   close() {
diff --git a/src/node_adapter.mjs b/src/node_adapter.mjs
index 72ef41e..b863561 100644
--- a/src/node_adapter.mjs
+++ b/src/node_adapter.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import * as sqlite3 from "sqlite3";
-
 import { NodeAdapterError } from "./node_adapter_error.mjs";
 import { DatabaseWrapper } from "./database_wrapper.mjs";
 import { ResponseWrapper } from "./response_wrapper.mjs";
@@ -11,9 +9,8 @@ export default {
   name: "PawSQLiteNodeAdapter",
   open: async (dbName) => {
     if (!databases.has(dbName)) {
-      const db = new DatabaseWrapper(
-        new sqlite3.Database(dbName)
-      );
+      const db = new DatabaseWrapper(dbName);
+      await db.open();
       databases.set(dbName, db);
     }