diff --git a/php_phongo.c b/php_phongo.c
index d35068629..0e3062623 100644
--- a/php_phongo.c
+++ b/php_phongo.c
@@ -3432,13 +3432,14 @@ void phongo_manager_init(php_phongo_manager_t* manager, const char* uri_string,
 #endif
 
 	manager->client = php_phongo_make_mongo_client(uri, driverOptions);
-	mongoc_client_set_error_api(manager->client, MONGOC_ERROR_API_VERSION_2);
 
 	if (!manager->client) {
 		phongo_throw_exception(PHONGO_ERROR_RUNTIME, "Failed to create Manager from URI: '%s'", uri_string);
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
+	mongoc_client_set_error_api(manager->client, MONGOC_ERROR_API_VERSION_2);
+
 #ifdef MONGOC_ENABLE_SSL
 	if (ssl_opt) {
 		mongoc_client_set_ssl_opts(manager->client, ssl_opt);