diff --git a/crates/backend/src/codegen/fn.rs b/crates/backend/src/codegen/fn.rs
index 00f268f0e5..7ccff0ddcf 100644
--- a/crates/backend/src/codegen/fn.rs
+++ b/crates/backend/src/codegen/fn.rs
@@ -61,13 +61,12 @@ impl TryToTokens for NapiFn {
           unsafe impl Sync for NapiRefContainer {}
           let _make_ref = |a: ::std::ptr::NonNull<napi::bindgen_prelude::sys::napi_value__>| {
             let mut node_ref = ::std::mem::MaybeUninit::uninit();
-            assert_eq!(unsafe {
-                napi::bindgen_prelude::sys::napi_create_reference(env, a.as_ptr(), 1, node_ref.as_mut_ptr())
+            napi::bindgen_prelude::check_status!(unsafe {
+                napi::bindgen_prelude::sys::napi_create_reference(env, a.as_ptr(), 0, node_ref.as_mut_ptr())
               },
-              napi::bindgen_prelude::sys::Status::napi_ok,
               "failed to create napi ref"
-            );
-            unsafe { node_ref.assume_init() }
+            )?;
+            Ok::<napi::sys::napi_ref, napi::Error>(unsafe { node_ref.assume_init() })
           };
           let mut _args_array = [::std::ptr::null_mut::<napi::bindgen_prelude::sys::napi_ref__>(); #arg_ref_count];
           let mut _arg_write_index = 0;
@@ -184,7 +183,10 @@ impl NapiFn {
     let mut mut_ref_spans = vec![];
     let make_ref = |input| {
       quote! {
-        _args_array[_arg_write_index] = _make_ref(::std::ptr::NonNull::new(#input).expect("ref ptr was null"));
+        _args_array[_arg_write_index] = _make_ref(
+          ::std::ptr::NonNull::new(#input)
+            .ok_or_else(|| napi::Error::new(napi::Status::InvalidArg, "referenced ptr is null".to_owned()))?
+        )?;
         _arg_write_index += 1;
       }
     };
diff --git a/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.md b/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.md
index 71a27146a4..1e758c2ba7 100644
--- a/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.md
+++ b/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.md
@@ -195,7 +195,6 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
     export function threadsafeFunctionFatalMode(cb: (...args: any[]) => any): void␊
     export function threadsafeFunctionFatalModeError(cb: (...args: any[]) => any): void␊
     export function threadsafeFunctionClosureCapture(func: (...args: any[]) => any): void␊
-    export function useTokioWithoutAsync(): void␊
     export function getBuffer(): Buffer␊
     export function appendBuffer(buf: Buffer): Buffer␊
     export function getEmptyBuffer(): Buffer␊
diff --git a/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.snap b/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.snap
index 2bcb9a7bd4..d6b3df0b07 100644
Binary files a/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.snap and b/examples/napi/__test__/typegen.spec.ts.snap differ
diff --git a/examples/napi/__test__/values.spec.ts b/examples/napi/__test__/values.spec.ts
index 4465ad986f..af98615a87 100644
--- a/examples/napi/__test__/values.spec.ts
+++ b/examples/napi/__test__/values.spec.ts
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ import {
   receiveObjectWithClassField,
   AnotherClassForEither,
   receiveDifferentClass,
-  useTokioWithoutAsync,
   getNumArr,
   getNestedNumArr,
   CustomFinalize,
@@ -754,12 +753,6 @@ Napi4Test('await Promise in rust', async (t) => {
   t.is(result, fx + 100)
 })
 
-Napi4Test('Run function which uses tokio internally but is not async', (t) => {
-  useTokioWithoutAsync()
-  // The prior didn't throw an exception, so it worked.
-  t.assert(true)
-})
-
 Napi4Test('Promise should reject raw error in rust', async (t) => {
   const fxError = new Error('What is Happy Planet')
   const err = await t.throwsAsync(() => asyncPlus100(Promise.reject(fxError)))
diff --git a/examples/napi/index.d.ts b/examples/napi/index.d.ts
index dacaa6b9b2..9cadb8a71f 100644
--- a/examples/napi/index.d.ts
+++ b/examples/napi/index.d.ts
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ export function threadsafeFunctionThrowError(cb: (...args: any[]) => any): void
 export function threadsafeFunctionFatalMode(cb: (...args: any[]) => any): void
 export function threadsafeFunctionFatalModeError(cb: (...args: any[]) => any): void
 export function threadsafeFunctionClosureCapture(func: (...args: any[]) => any): void
-export function useTokioWithoutAsync(): void
 export function getBuffer(): Buffer
 export function appendBuffer(buf: Buffer): Buffer
 export function getEmptyBuffer(): Buffer
diff --git a/examples/napi/src/lib.rs b/examples/napi/src/lib.rs
index 48f23ca502..d50f516e26 100644
--- a/examples/napi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/examples/napi/src/lib.rs
@@ -40,5 +40,4 @@ mod string;
 mod symbol;
 mod task;
 mod threadsafe_function;
-mod tokio_outside_async;
 mod typed_array;
diff --git a/examples/napi/src/tokio_outside_async.rs b/examples/napi/src/tokio_outside_async.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index b82a308b56..0000000000
--- a/examples/napi/src/tokio_outside_async.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-use std::time::Duration;
-use tokio::{sync::oneshot, time::Instant};
-
-#[napi]
-pub fn use_tokio_without_async() {
-  let (sender, receiver) = oneshot::channel();
-  let handle = tokio::task::spawn(async {
-    // If this panics, the test failed.
-    sender.send(true).unwrap();
-  });
-  let start = Instant::now();
-  while !handle.is_finished() {
-    if start.elapsed() > Duration::from_secs(5) {
-      panic!("The future never resolved.");
-    }
-  }
-  assert_eq!(receiver.blocking_recv(), Ok(true));
-}