diff --git a/Classes/Core/Testbase.php b/Classes/Core/Testbase.php
index 9b04635d..e8885df9 100644
--- a/Classes/Core/Testbase.php
+++ b/Classes/Core/Testbase.php
@@ -668,10 +668,14 @@ public function setUpPackageStates(
     public function setUpTestDatabase(string $databaseName, string $originalDatabaseName): void
     {
         // First close existing connections from a possible previous test case and
-        // tell our ConnectionPool there are no current connections anymore.
+        // tell our ConnectionPool there are no current connections anymore. In case
+        // database does not exist yet, an exception is thrown which we catch here.
         $connectionPool = GeneralUtility::makeInstance(ConnectionPool::class);
-        $connection = $connectionPool->getConnectionByName(ConnectionPool::DEFAULT_CONNECTION_NAME);
-        $connection->close();
+        try {
+            $connection = $connectionPool->getConnectionByName(ConnectionPool::DEFAULT_CONNECTION_NAME);
+            $connection->close();
+        } catch (DBALException) {
+        }
         $connectionPool->resetConnections();
 
         // Drop database if exists. Directly using the Doctrine DriverManager to
@@ -689,8 +693,8 @@ public function setUpTestDatabase(string $databaseName, string $originalDatabase
             $configuration->setSchemaManagerFactory($coreSchemaFactory);
         }
         $driverConnection = DriverManager::getConnection($connectionParameters, $configuration);
+
         $schemaManager = $driverConnection->createSchemaManager();
-        $platform = $driverConnection->getDatabasePlatform();
         $isSQLite = self::isSQLite($driverConnection);
 
         // doctrine/dbal no longer supports createDatabase() and dropDatabase() statements. Guard it.