diff --git a/core/ext/vtab_xconnect.rs b/core/ext/vtab_xconnect.rs
index e116d7535..cae4485e5 100644
--- a/core/ext/vtab_xconnect.rs
+++ b/core/ext/vtab_xconnect.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn execute(
 
 /// Wraps core Connection::prepare with a custom Stmt object with the necessary function pointers.
 /// This object is boxed/leaked and the caller is responsible for freeing the memory.
-pub unsafe extern "C" fn prepare_stmt(ctx: *mut ExtConn, sql: *const c_char) -> *const Stmt {
+pub unsafe extern "C" fn prepare_stmt(ctx: *mut ExtConn, sql: *const c_char) -> *mut Stmt {
     let c_str = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(sql as *mut c_char) };
     let sql_str = match c_str.to_str() {
         Ok(s) => s.to_string(),
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn prepare_stmt(ctx: *mut ExtConn, sql: *const c_char) ->
                 stmt_get_column_names,
                 stmt_free_current_row,
                 stmt_close,
-            ))) as *const Stmt
+            )))
         }
         Err(e) => {
             tracing::error!("prepare_stmt: failed to prepare statement: {:?}", e);
diff --git a/extensions/core/src/vtabs.rs b/extensions/core/src/vtabs.rs
index 6b0ae0fc5..755621f56 100644
--- a/extensions/core/src/vtabs.rs
+++ b/extensions/core/src/vtabs.rs
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ impl ConstraintInfo {
     }
 }
 
-pub type PrepareStmtFn = unsafe extern "C" fn(api: *mut Conn, sql: *const c_char) -> *const Stmt;
+pub type PrepareStmtFn = unsafe extern "C" fn(api: *mut Conn, sql: *const c_char) -> *mut Stmt;
 pub type ExecuteFn = unsafe extern "C" fn(
     ctx: *mut Conn,
     sql: *const c_char,
@@ -426,9 +426,9 @@ impl Conn {
         Err(ResultCode::Error)
     }
 
-    pub fn prepare_stmt(&self, sql: &str) -> *const Stmt {
+    pub fn prepare_stmt(&self, sql: &str) -> *mut Stmt {
         let Ok(sql) = CString::new(sql) else {
-            return std::ptr::null();
+            return std::ptr::null_mut();
         };
         unsafe { (self._prepare_stmt)(self as *const _ as *mut Conn, sql.as_ptr()) }
     }
@@ -438,8 +438,16 @@ impl Conn {
 /// Statements can be manually closed.
 #[derive(Debug)]
 #[repr(transparent)]
-pub struct Statement(*const Stmt);
+pub struct Statement(*mut Stmt);
 
+impl Drop for Statement {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        if self.0.is_null() {
+            return;
+        }
+        unsafe { (*self.0).close() }
+    }
+}
 /// Public API for methods to allow extensions to query other tables for
 /// the connection that opened the VTable.
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -562,12 +570,13 @@ impl Stmt {
     }
 
     /// Close the statement
-    pub fn close(&self) {
+    pub fn close(&mut self) {
         // null check to prevent double free
         if self._ctx.is_null() {
             return;
         }
         unsafe { (self._close)(self as *const Stmt as *mut Stmt) };
+        self._ctx = std::ptr::null_mut();
     }
 
     /// # Safety
@@ -580,21 +589,21 @@ impl Stmt {
     }
 
     /// Returns the pointer to the statement.
-    pub fn to_ptr(&self) -> *const Stmt {
-        self
+    pub fn to_ptr(&self) -> *mut Stmt {
+        self as *const Stmt as *mut Stmt
     }
 
     /// Bind a value to a parameter in the prepared statement
     /// Own the value so it can be freed in core
     fn bind_args(&self, idx: NonZeroUsize, arg: Value) {
         unsafe {
-            (self._bind_args_fn)(self.to_ptr() as *mut Stmt, idx.get() as i32, arg);
+            (self._bind_args_fn)(self.to_ptr(), idx.get() as i32, arg);
         };
     }
 
     /// Execute the statement to attempt to retrieve the next result row.
     fn step(&self) -> StepResult {
-        unsafe { (self._step)(self.to_ptr() as *mut Stmt) }.into()
+        unsafe { (self._step)(self.to_ptr()) }.into()
     }
 
     /// Free the memory for the values obtained from the `get_row` method.
@@ -608,7 +617,7 @@ impl Stmt {
             return;
         }
         // free from the core side so we don't have to expose `__free_internal_type`
-        (self._free_current_row)(self.to_ptr() as *mut Stmt);
+        (self._free_current_row)(self.to_ptr());
         self.current_row = std::ptr::null_mut();
         self.current_row_len = -1;
     }
@@ -616,7 +625,7 @@ impl Stmt {
     /// Returns the values from the current row in the prepared statement, should
     /// be called after the step() method returns `StepResult::Row`
     pub fn get_row(&self) -> &[Value] {
-        unsafe { (self._get_row_values)(self.to_ptr() as *mut Stmt) };
+        unsafe { (self._get_row_values)(self.to_ptr()) };
         if self.current_row.is_null() || self.current_row_len < 1 {
             return &[];
         }
@@ -628,7 +637,7 @@ impl Stmt {
     pub fn get_column_names(&self) -> Vec<String> {
         let mut count_value: i32 = 0;
         let count: *mut i32 = &mut count_value;
-        let col_names = unsafe { (self._get_column_names)(self.to_ptr() as *mut Stmt, count) };
+        let col_names = unsafe { (self._get_column_names)(self.to_ptr(), count) };
         if col_names.is_null() || count_value == 0 {
             return Vec::new();
         }
diff --git a/extensions/tests/src/lib.rs b/extensions/tests/src/lib.rs
index 5fe19db75..9c8ad0019 100644
--- a/extensions/tests/src/lib.rs
+++ b/extensions/tests/src/lib.rs
@@ -370,6 +370,7 @@ impl VTabCursor for StatsCursor {
             }
             tables.push(tbl);
         }
+        master.close();
         for tbl in tables {
             // count rows for each table
             if let Ok(mut count_stmt) = conn.prepare(&format!("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {};", tbl)) {
@@ -378,6 +379,7 @@ impl VTabCursor for StatsCursor {
                     _ => 0,
                 };
                 self.rows.push((tbl, count));
+                count_stmt.close();
             }
         }
         if conn
@@ -403,6 +405,7 @@ impl VTabCursor for StatsCursor {
                 assert_eq!(val.to_integer(), Some(42));
             }
         }
+        stmt.close();
         ResultCode::OK
     }