diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-ci-atlas.yml b/.github/workflows/build-ci-atlas.yml
index c699d2023..46f30150d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-ci-atlas.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-ci-atlas.yml
@@ -91,4 +91,4 @@ jobs:
             -   name: "Run tests"
                 run: |
                   export MONGODB_URI="mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true"
-                  ./vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-clover coverage.xml --group atlas-search
+                  php -d zend.assertions=1 ./vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-clover coverage.xml --group atlas-search
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/build-ci.yml
index 6fec7bb28..bbc8b53d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-ci.yml
@@ -118,4 +118,4 @@ jobs:
             -   name: "Run tests"
                 run: |
                   export MONGODB_URI="mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?replicaSet=rs"
-                  ./vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-clover coverage.xml --exclude-group atlas-search
+                  php -d zend.assertions=1 ./vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-clover coverage.xml --exclude-group atlas-search
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.dist b/phpunit.xml.dist
index 7044f9069..d7f066483 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.dist
+++ b/phpunit.xml.dist
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
         <env name="QUEUE_CONNECTION" value="database"/>
         <ini name="xdebug.mode" value="coverage"/>
         <ini name="memory_limit" value="-1"/>
+        <!-- Evaluate assertions, requires running with "php -d zend.assertions=1 vendor/bin/phpunit" -->
+        <!-- <ini name="zend.assertions=1" value="1" /> -->
     </php>
 
     <source restrictDeprecations="true"
diff --git a/src/Session/MongoDbSessionHandler.php b/src/Session/MongoDbSessionHandler.php
index 517d422a6..dd57f2a3c 100644
--- a/src/Session/MongoDbSessionHandler.php
+++ b/src/Session/MongoDbSessionHandler.php
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 use MongoDB\BSON\UTCDateTime;
 use MongoDB\Collection;
 
-use function assert;
 use function tap;
 use function time;
 
@@ -56,9 +55,12 @@ public function read($sessionId): string|false
                 'typeMap' => ['root' => 'bson'],
             ],
         );
-        assert($result instanceof Document);
 
-        return $result ? (string) $result->payload : false;
+        if ($result instanceof Document) {
+            return (string) $result->payload;
+        }
+
+        return false;
     }
 
     public function write($sessionId, $data): bool
diff --git a/tests/ConnectionTest.php b/tests/ConnectionTest.php
index ba5e09804..75761080e 100644
--- a/tests/ConnectionTest.php
+++ b/tests/ConnectionTest.php
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public function testDisconnectAndCreateNewConnection()
     public function testDb()
     {
         $connection = DB::connection('mongodb');
-        $this->assertInstanceOf(Database::class, $connection->getMongoDB());
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Database::class, $connection->getDatabase());
         $this->assertInstanceOf(Client::class, $connection->getClient());
     }
 
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ public function testConnectionConfig(string $expectedUri, string $expectedDataba
         $client     = $connection->getClient();
 
         $this->assertSame($expectedUri, (string) $client);
-        $this->assertSame($expectedDatabaseName, $connection->getMongoDB()->getDatabaseName());
+        $this->assertSame($expectedDatabaseName, $connection->getDatabase()->getDatabaseName());
         $this->assertSame('foo', $connection->getCollection('foo')->getCollectionName());
         $this->assertSame('foo', $connection->table('foo')->raw()->getCollectionName());
     }
diff --git a/tests/FilesystemsTest.php b/tests/FilesystemsTest.php
index 3b9fa8e5f..7b8141905 100644
--- a/tests/FilesystemsTest.php
+++ b/tests/FilesystemsTest.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public static function provideValidOptions(): Generator
                 'driver' => 'gridfs',
                 'bucket' => static fn (Application $app) => $app['db']
                     ->connection('mongodb')
-                    ->getMongoDB()
+                    ->getDatabase()
                     ->selectGridFSBucket(),
             ],
         ];
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public function testValidOptions(array $options)
         // Service used by "bucket-service"
         $this->app->singleton('bucket', static fn (Application $app) => $app['db']
             ->connection('mongodb')
-            ->getMongoDB()
+            ->getDatabase()
             ->selectGridFSBucket());
 
         $this->app['config']->set('filesystems.disks.' . $this->dataName(), $options);
@@ -145,6 +145,6 @@ public function testPrefix()
 
     private function getBucket(): Bucket
     {
-        return DB::connection('mongodb')->getMongoDB()->selectGridFSBucket();
+        return DB::connection('mongodb')->getDatabase()->selectGridFSBucket();
     }
 }