diff --git a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
index fe6e087..83a4831 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
+++ b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 #include "mysql2_ext.h"
 
+#define REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(_ctxt) \
+  if(!_ctxt->net.vio) { \
+    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection"); \
+    return Qnil; \
+  }
+
 /*
  * non-blocking mysql_*() functions that we won't be wrapping since
  * they do not appear to hit the network nor issue any interruptible
@@ -23,12 +29,12 @@
  */
 
 static VALUE nogvl_init(void *ptr) {
-  struct nogvl_connect_args *args = ptr;
+  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
 
   /* may initialize embedded server and read /etc/services off disk */
-  args->mysql = mysql_init(NULL);
+  mysql_init(client);
 
-  return args->mysql == NULL ? Qfalse : Qtrue;
+  return client ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
 }
 
 static VALUE nogvl_connect(void *ptr) {
@@ -45,11 +51,11 @@ static VALUE nogvl_connect(void *ptr) {
 
 static VALUE allocate(VALUE klass)
 {
-  mysql2_client_wrapper * client;
+  MYSQL * client;
 
   return Data_Make_Struct(
       klass,
-      mysql2_client_wrapper,
+      MYSQL,
       NULL,
       rb_mysql_client_free,
       client
@@ -58,7 +64,7 @@ static VALUE allocate(VALUE klass)
 
 /* Mysql2::Client */
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_init(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
-  mysql2_client_wrapper * client;
+  MYSQL * client;
   struct nogvl_connect_args args = {
     .host = "localhost",
     .user = NULL,
@@ -79,8 +85,7 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_init(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
   unsigned int connect_timeout = 0;
   my_bool reconnect = 1;
 
-  /* FIXME: refactor this to not use mysql2_client_wrapper */
-  Data_Get_Struct(self, mysql2_client_wrapper, client);
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
 
   if (rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "01", &opts) == 1) {
     Check_Type(opts, T_HASH);
@@ -151,67 +156,65 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_init(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
     }
   }
 
-  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_init, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
+  if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_init, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
     // TODO: warning - not enough memory?
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(args.mysql);
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
   }
 
   // set default reconnect behavior
-  if (mysql_options(args.mysql, MYSQL_OPT_RECONNECT, &reconnect) != 0) {
+  if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_RECONNECT, &reconnect) != 0) {
     // TODO: warning - unable to set reconnect behavior
-    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(args.mysql));
+    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
   }
 
   // set default connection timeout behavior
-  if (connect_timeout != 0 && mysql_options(args.mysql, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, (const char *)&connect_timeout) != 0) {
+  if (connect_timeout != 0 && mysql_options(client, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, (const char *)&connect_timeout) != 0) {
     // TODO: warning - unable to set connection timeout
-    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(args.mysql));
+    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
   }
 
   // force the encoding to utf8
-  if (mysql_options(args.mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, "utf8") != 0) {
+  if (mysql_options(client, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, "utf8") != 0) {
     // TODO: warning - unable to set charset
-    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(args.mysql));
+    rb_warn("%s\n", mysql_error(client));
   }
 
   if (ssl_ca_cert != NULL || ssl_client_key != NULL) {
-    mysql_ssl_set(args.mysql, ssl_client_key, ssl_client_cert, ssl_ca_cert, ssl_ca_path, ssl_cipher);
+    mysql_ssl_set(client, ssl_client_key, ssl_client_cert, ssl_ca_cert, ssl_ca_path, ssl_cipher);
   }
 
+  args.mysql = client;
   if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_connect, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
     // unable to connect
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(args.mysql);;
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
   }
 
-  client->client = args.mysql;
-
   return self;
 }
 
 static void rb_mysql_client_free(void * ptr) {
-  mysql2_client_wrapper * client = ptr;
+  MYSQL * client = (MYSQL *)ptr;
 
-  if (client->client) {
+  /*
+   * we'll send a QUIT message to the server, but that message is more of a
+   * formality than a hard requirement since the socket is getting shutdown
+   * anyways, so ensure the socket write does not block our interpreter
+   */
+  int fd = client->net.fd;
+  int flags;
+
+  if (fd >= 0) {
     /*
-     * we'll send a QUIT message to the server, but that message is more of a
-     * formality than a hard requirement since the socket is getting shutdown
-     * anyways, so ensure the socket write does not block our interpreter
+     * if the socket is dead we have no chance of blocking,
+     * so ignore any potential fcntl errors since they don't matter
      */
-    int fd = client->client->net.fd;
-    int flags;
-
-    if (fd >= 0) {
-      /*
-       * if the socket is dead we have no chance of blocking,
-       * so ignore any potential fcntl errors since they don't matter
-       */
-      flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL);
-      if (flags > 0 && !(flags & O_NONBLOCK))
-        fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
-    }
-
-    mysql_close(client->client);
+    flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL);
+    if (flags > 0 && !(flags & O_NONBLOCK))
+      fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
   }
+
+  /* It's safe to call mysql_close() on an already closed connection. */
+  mysql_close(client);
   xfree(ptr);
 }
 
@@ -227,16 +230,13 @@ static VALUE nogvl_close(void * ptr) {
  * for the garbage collector.
  */
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_close(VALUE self) {
-  mysql2_client_wrapper *client;
+  MYSQL *client;
 
-	Data_Get_Struct(self, mysql2_client_wrapper, client);
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+  rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_close, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
 
-  if (client->client) {
-    rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_close, client->client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0);
-    client->client = NULL;
-  } else {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "already closed MySQL connection");
-  }
   return Qnil;
 }
 
@@ -264,6 +264,8 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_query(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
   VALUE opts;
   VALUE rb_async;
 
+  MYSQL * client;
+
   if (rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "11", &args.sql, &opts) == 2) {
     if ((rb_async = rb_hash_aref(opts, sym_async)) != Qnil) {
       async = rb_async == Qtrue ? 1 : 0;
@@ -271,20 +273,19 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_query(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
   }
 
   Check_Type(args.sql, T_STRING);
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
 
-  GetMysql2Client(self, args.mysql);
-  if (!args.mysql) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+
+  args.mysql = client;
   if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_send_query, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
-    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(args.mysql);;
+    return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
   }
 
   if (!async) {
     // the below code is largely from do_mysql
     // http://github.com/datamapper/do
-    fd = args.mysql->net.fd;
+    fd = client->net.fd;
     for(;;) {
       FD_ZERO(&fdset);
       FD_SET(fd, &fdset);
@@ -318,11 +319,9 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_escape(VALUE self, VALUE str) {
   oldLen = RSTRING_LEN(str);
   char escaped[(oldLen*2)+1];
 
-  GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   newLen = mysql_real_escape_string(client, escaped, RSTRING_PTR(str), RSTRING_LEN(str));
   if (newLen == oldLen) {
     // no need to return a new ruby string if nothing changed
@@ -364,11 +363,9 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
   rb_encoding *default_internal_enc = rb_default_internal_encoding();
 #endif
 
-  GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+
   version = rb_hash_new();
   rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2FIX(mysql_get_server_version(client)));
   server_info = rb_str_new2(mysql_get_server_info(client));
@@ -383,11 +380,9 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
 }
 
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_socket(VALUE self) {
-  MYSQL * client = GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  MYSQL * client;
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return INT2NUM(client->net.fd);
 }
 
@@ -412,11 +407,10 @@ static VALUE nogvl_store_result(void *ptr) {
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_async_result(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
   MYSQL_RES * result;
-  GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_read_query_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
     return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
   }
@@ -434,21 +428,15 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_async_result(VALUE self) {
 
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_last_id(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
-  GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return ULL2NUM(mysql_insert_id(client));
 }
 
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_affected_rows(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
-  GetMysql2Client(self, client);
-  if (!client) {
-    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection");
-    return Qnil;
-  }
+  Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return ULL2NUM(mysql_affected_rows(client));
 }
 
diff --git a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
index 503b65d..3580dbb 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
+++ b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.h
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ static ID intern_new, intern_utc;
 /* Mysql2::Error */
 static VALUE cMysql2Error;
 
-/* Mysql2::Client */
-typedef struct {
-    MYSQL * client;
-} mysql2_client_wrapper;
-#define GetMysql2Client(obj, sval) (sval = ((mysql2_client_wrapper*)(DATA_PTR(obj)))->client);
 static ID sym_socket, sym_host, sym_port, sym_username, sym_password,
           sym_database, sym_reconnect, sym_connect_timeout, sym_id, sym_version,
           sym_sslkey, sym_sslcert, sym_sslca, sym_sslcapath, sym_sslcipher,