diff --git a/lib/Database.php b/lib/Database.php
index e29b8337..0b4008d8 100644
--- a/lib/Database.php
+++ b/lib/Database.php
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ class Database {
 
     public function __construct(RuntimeData $data) {
         $this->data = $data;
-        $this->driver = $data->conf->dbDriver;
-        $this->db = $this->driver::create($data, INSTALL);
+        $this->driver = $driver = $data->conf->dbDriver;
+        $this->db = new $driver($data, INSTALL);
         $ver = $this->db->schemaVersion();
         if(!INSTALL && $ver < self::SCHEMA_VERSION) {
             $this->db->update(self::SCHEMA_VERSION);
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ class Database {
                 (new PicoFeed\Reader\Favicon)->find($url),
                 $feed->siteUrl,
                 // Convert the date formats to SQL date format before inserting.
+                // FIXME: Dates should be formatted transparently by the driver's Statement wrapper, not here
                 $this->driver::formatDate($feed->date),
                 $this->driver::formatDate($resource->getLastModified()),
                 $resource->getEtag(),
diff --git a/lib/Db/Driver.php b/lib/Db/Driver.php
index de05cc69..ad4d5fb2 100644
--- a/lib/Db/Driver.php
+++ b/lib/Db/Driver.php
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@
 declare(strict_types=1);
 namespace JKingWeb\NewsSync\Db;
 
-interface Driver {    
-    // returns an instance of a class implementing this interface. Implemented as a static method so that classes may return their PDO equivalents instead of themselves
-    static function create(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data, bool $install = false): Driver;
+interface Driver {
+    function __construct(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data, bool $install = false);
     // returns a human-friendly name for the driver (for display in installer, for example)
     static function driverName(): string;
     // returns the version of the scheme of the opened database; if uninitialized should return 0
diff --git a/lib/Db/DriverSQLite3.php b/lib/Db/DriverSQLite3.php
index babf994a..bed2f35b 100644
--- a/lib/Db/DriverSQLite3.php
+++ b/lib/Db/DriverSQLite3.php
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ class DriverSQLite3 implements Driver {
     protected $data;
     
     private function __construct(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data, bool $install = false) {
+        // check to make sure required extension is loaded
+        if(!class_exists("SQLite3")) throw new Exception("extMissing", self::driverName());
         $this->data = $data;
         $file = $data->conf->dbSQLite3File;
         // if the file exists (or we're initializing the database), try to open it and set initial options
@@ -32,21 +34,10 @@ class DriverSQLite3 implements Driver {
     }
 
     public function __destruct() {
-        $this->db->close();
+        try{$this->db->close();} catch(\Exception $e) {}
         unset($this->db);
     }
 
-    static public function create(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data, bool $install = false): Driver {
-        // check to make sure required extensions are loaded
-        if(class_exists("SQLite3")) {
-            return new self($data, $install);
-        } else if(class_exists("PDO") && in_array("sqlite",\PDO::getAvailableDrivers())) {
-            return new DriverSQLite3PDO($data, $install);
-        } else {
-            throw new Exception("extMissing", self::driverName());
-        }
-    }
-
     
     static public function driverName(): string {
         return "SQLite 3";
diff --git a/lib/User.php b/lib/User.php
index 7d0a9ef2..7b29b54c 100644
--- a/lib/User.php
+++ b/lib/User.php
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class User {
     public function __construct(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data) {
         $this->data = $data;
         $driver = $data->conf->userDriver;
-        $this->u = $driver::create($data);
+        $this->u = new $driver($data);
         $this->authzSupported = $this->u->driverFunctions("authorize");
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/User/Driver.php b/lib/User/Driver.php
index 36b02352..1f39f447 100644
--- a/lib/User/Driver.php
+++ b/lib/User/Driver.php
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Interface Driver {
     const RIGHTS_GLOBAL_ADMIN   = 100;  // is completely unrestricted
 
     // returns an instance of a class implementing this interface. Implemented as a static method for consistency with database classes
-    static function create(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data): Driver;
+    function __construct(\JKingWeb\NewsSync\RuntimeData $data);
     // returns a human-friendly name for the driver (for display in installer, for example)
     static function driverName(): string;
     // returns an array (or single queried member of same) of methods defined by this interface and whether the class implements the internal function or a custom version