Index: db.scm
==================================================================
--- db.scm
+++ db.scm
@@ -1698,11 +1698,11 @@
 		(db:with-db
 		 dbstruct
 		 run-id
 		 #t
 		 (lambda (db)
-		   (sqlite3:execute (db:get-db dbstruct run-id) qry newstate newstatus run-id testname)))))
+		   (sqlite3:execute db qry newstate newstatus run-id testname)))))
 	    testnames))
 
 ;; speed up for common cases with a little logic
 ;; NB// Ultimately this will be deprecated in deference to mt:test-set-state-status-by-id
 ;;
@@ -2447,11 +2447,17 @@
 (define (db:delay-if-busy dbdat #!key (count 6))
   (if dbdat
       (let* ((dbpath (db:dbdat-get-path dbdat))
 	     (db     (db:dbdat-get-db   dbdat)) ;; we'll return this so (db:delay--if-busy can be called inline
 	     (dbfj   (conc dbpath "-journal")))
-	(if (file-exists? dbfj)
+	(if (handle-exceptions
+	     exn
+	     (begin
+	       (debug:print-info 0 "WARNING: failed to test for existance of " dbfj)
+	       (thread-sleep! 1)
+	       (db:delay-if-busy count (- count 1)))
+	     (file-exists? dbfj))
 	    (case count
 	      ((6)
 	       (thread-sleep! 0.2)
 	       (db:delay-if-busy count: 5))
 	      ((5)