diff --git a/HellionChat/MessageStore.cs b/HellionChat/MessageStore.cs
index 9aa3bfe..fd4378d 100644
--- a/HellionChat/MessageStore.cs
+++ b/HellionChat/MessageStore.cs
@@ -198,22 +198,31 @@ internal class MessageStore : IDisposable
         Connection.Dispose();
     }
 
-    private SqliteConnection Connect()
+    private static string BuildConnectionString(string dbPath)
     {
         var uriBuilder = new SqliteConnectionStringBuilder
         {
-            DataSource = DbPath,
+            DataSource = dbPath,
             DefaultTimeout = 5,
             Pooling = false,
             Mode = SqliteOpenMode.ReadWriteCreate,
         };
+        return uriBuilder.ToString();
+    }
 
-        var conn = new SqliteConnection(uriBuilder.ToString());
-        conn.Open();
+    private void ApplyPragmas(SqliteConnection conn)
+    {
         conn.Execute(@"PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;");
         conn.Execute(@"PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL;");
         if (_platformUtil.IsWine)
             conn.Execute(@"PRAGMA cache_size = 32768;");
+    }
+
+    private SqliteConnection Connect()
+    {
+        var conn = new SqliteConnection(BuildConnectionString(DbPath));
+        conn.Open();
+        ApplyPragmas(conn);
         return conn;
     }