diff --git a/cmd/goose/cmd_down.go b/cmd/goose/cmd_down.go
index cab7a64..91c55a6 100644
--- a/cmd/goose/cmd_down.go
+++ b/cmd/goose/cmd_down.go
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ func downRun(cmd *Command, args ...string) {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	current := goose.GetDBVersion(conf)
+	current, err := goose.GetDBVersion(conf)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
 	if current == 0 {
 		fmt.Println("db is empty, can't go down.")
 		return
diff --git a/cmd/goose/cmd_redo.go b/cmd/goose/cmd_redo.go
index 2a68932..93a4836 100644
--- a/cmd/goose/cmd_redo.go
+++ b/cmd/goose/cmd_redo.go
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@ func redoRun(cmd *Command, args ...string) {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	target := goose.GetDBVersion(conf)
+	target, err := goose.GetDBVersion(conf)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
 	_, earliest := goose.GetPreviousDBVersion(conf.MigrationsDir, target)
 
 	downRun(cmd, args...)
diff --git a/lib/goose/migrate.go b/lib/goose/migrate.go
index 8e91950..08add2c 100644
--- a/lib/goose/migrate.go
+++ b/lib/goose/migrate.go
@@ -266,20 +266,20 @@ func createVersionTable(conf *DBConf, db *sql.DB) error {
 
 // wrapper for EnsureDBVersion for callers that don't already have
 // their own DB instance
-func GetDBVersion(conf *DBConf) int64 {
+func GetDBVersion(conf *DBConf) (version int64, err error) {
 
 	db, err := sql.Open(conf.Driver.Name, conf.Driver.OpenStr)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal("couldn't open DB:", err)
+		return -1, err
 	}
 	defer db.Close()
 
-	version, err := EnsureDBVersion(conf, db)
+	version, err = EnsureDBVersion(conf, db)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("couldn't get DB version: %v", err)
+		return -1, err
 	}
 
-	return version
+	return version, nil
 }
 
 func GetPreviousDBVersion(dirpath string, version int64) (previous, earliest int64) {