diff --git a/storage/postgres/storage_test.go b/storage/postgres/storage_test.go
index eddaa843c7..68ee4f8ac4 100644
--- a/storage/postgres/storage_test.go
+++ b/storage/postgres/storage_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	}
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Duration(time.Second*30))
 	defer cancel()
-	db = testdb.OpenTestDBOrDie(ctx)
+	db = testdb.NewTrillianDBOrDie(ctx)
 	defer db.Close()
 	ec = m.Run()
 }
diff --git a/storage/postgres/testdb/testdb.go b/storage/postgres/testdb/testdb.go
index 70db31ea43..69d0579e76 100644
--- a/storage/postgres/testdb/testdb.go
+++ b/storage/postgres/testdb/testdb.go
@@ -76,18 +76,17 @@ func newEmptyDB(ctx context.Context) (*sql.DB, error) {
 	return db, db.Ping()
 }
 
-// NewTrillianDB creates an empty database with the Trillian schema. The database name is randomly
+// NewTrillianDBOrDie creates an empty database with the Trillian schema. The database name is randomly
 // generated.
-// NewTrillianDB is equivalent to Default().NewTrillianDB(ctx).
-func NewTrillianDB(ctx context.Context) (*sql.DB, error) {
+func NewTrillianDBOrDie(ctx context.Context) *sql.DB {
 	db, err := newEmptyDB(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		panic(err)
 	}
 
 	sqlBytes, err := ioutil.ReadFile(trillianSQL)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		panic(err)
 	}
 
 	for _, stmt := range strings.Split(sanitize(string(sqlBytes)), ";") {
@@ -96,10 +95,10 @@ func NewTrillianDB(ctx context.Context) (*sql.DB, error) {
 			continue
 		}
 		if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, stmt); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error running statement %q: %v", stmt, err)
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("error running statement %q: %v", stmt, err))
 		}
 	}
-	return db, nil
+	return db
 }
 
 // sanitize tries to remove empty lines and comments from a sql script
@@ -120,13 +119,3 @@ func sanitize(script string) string {
 func getConnStr(name string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("database=%s %s", name, *pgOpts)
 }
-
-// OpenTestDBOrDie attempts to return a connection to a new postgres
-// test database and fails if unable to do so.
-func OpenTestDBOrDie(ctx context.Context) *sql.DB {
-	db, err := NewTrillianDB(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return db
-}
diff --git a/storage/postgres/tree_storage.go b/storage/postgres/tree_storage.go
index c0ed071b1b..97c0252bb5 100644
--- a/storage/postgres/tree_storage.go
+++ b/storage/postgres/tree_storage.go
@@ -103,9 +103,9 @@ type statementSkeleton struct {
 
 // expandPlaceholderSQL expands an sql statement by adding a specified number of '%s'
 // placeholder slots. At most one placeholder will be expanded.
-func expandPlaceholderSQL(skeleton *statementSkeleton) string {
+func expandPlaceholderSQL(skeleton *statementSkeleton) (string, error) {
 	if skeleton.num <= 0 {
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("trying to expand SQL placeholder with <= 0 parameters: %s", skeleton.sql))
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("trying to expand SQL placeholder with <= 0 parameters: %s", skeleton.sql)
 	}
 
 	restCount := skeleton.num - 1
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func expandPlaceholderSQL(skeleton *statementSkeleton) string {
 	remainingInsertion := strings.Repeat(","+skeleton.restInsertion, restCount)
 	toInsertBuilder.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(remainingInsertion, totalArray[skeleton.firstPlaceholders:]...))
 
-	return strings.Replace(skeleton.sql, placeholderSQL, toInsertBuilder.String(), 1)
+	return strings.Replace(skeleton.sql, placeholderSQL, toInsertBuilder.String(), 1), nil
 }
 
 // getStmt creates and caches sql.Stmt structs based on the passed in statement
@@ -137,7 +137,12 @@ func (p *pgTreeStorage) getStmt(ctx context.Context, skeleton *statementSkeleton
 		p.statements[skeleton.sql] = make(map[int]*sql.Stmt)
 	}
 
-	s, err := p.db.PrepareContext(ctx, expandPlaceholderSQL(skeleton))
+	statement, err := expandPlaceholderSQL(skeleton)
+	if err != nil {
+		glog.Warningf("Failed to expand placeholder sql: %v", skeleton)
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	s, err := p.db.PrepareContext(ctx, statement)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Warningf("Failed to prepare statement %d: %s", skeleton.num, err)
diff --git a/storage/postgres/tree_storage_test.go b/storage/postgres/tree_storage_test.go
index 6d62051d9f..9baa7b329e 100644
--- a/storage/postgres/tree_storage_test.go
+++ b/storage/postgres/tree_storage_test.go
@@ -94,7 +94,11 @@ func TestExpandPlaceholderSQL(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
-		if res := expandPlaceholderSQL(tc.input); res != tc.expected {
+		res, err := expandPlaceholderSQL(tc.input)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Error while expanding placeholder sql: %v", err)
+		}
+		if tc.expected != res {
 			t.Fatalf("Expected %v but got %v", tc.expected, res)
 		}
 	}