diff --git a/config.php b/config.php
index 441d1a5..7a9c641 100644
--- a/config.php
+++ b/config.php
@@ -37,13 +37,17 @@ load_env();
 /**
  * Get a PDO connection to the database.
  */
-function get_db_connection(): ?PDO {
+function get_db_connection() {
     static $pdo = null;
     
     if ($pdo !== null) {
         return $pdo;
     }
     
+    if (!class_exists('PDO')) {
+        return null;
+    }
+    
     $url = getenv('DATABASE_URL');
     if (!$url) {
         return null;
@@ -66,9 +70,10 @@ function get_db_connection(): ?PDO {
         $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $pass, [
             PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
             PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
+            PDO::ATTR_TIMEOUT => 3,
         ]);
         return $pdo;
-    } catch (PDOException $e) {
+    } catch (\Exception $e) {
         error_log("Database connection failed: " . $e->getMessage());
         return null;
     }
diff --git a/helpers.php b/helpers.php
index 21f8045..d1b0147 100644
--- a/helpers.php
+++ b/helpers.php
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function init_db() {
                 }
             }
         }
-    } catch (PDOException $e) {
+    } catch (\Exception $e) {
         error_log("DB Init Error: " . $e->getMessage());
     }
 }
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ function load_recipes_local(): array {
                     }
                 }
             }
-        } catch (PDOException $e) {
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
             error_log("Failed to load recipes from DB: " . $e->getMessage());
         }
     }