diff --git a/models/TicketModel.php b/models/TicketModel.php
index 00f9b75..2bc0cb6 100644
--- a/models/TicketModel.php
+++ b/models/TicketModel.php
@@ -440,44 +440,49 @@ class TicketModel {
             $visibilityGroups
         );
 
-        if ($stmt->execute()) {
-            return [
-                'success' => true,
-                'ticket_id' => $ticket_id
-            ];
-        } else {
+        try {
+            if ($stmt->execute()) {
+                return [
+                    'success' => true,
+                    'ticket_id' => $ticket_id
+                ];
+            }
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => $this->conn->error];
+        } catch (mysqli_sql_exception $e) {
             // Handle duplicate key (errno 1062) caused by race condition between
             // the uniqueness SELECT above and this INSERT — regenerate and retry once
-            if ($this->conn->errno === 1062) {
-                $stmt->close();
-                try {
-                    $ticket_id = sprintf('%09d', random_int(100000000, 999999999));
-                } catch (Exception $e) {
-                    $ticket_id = sprintf('%09d', mt_rand(100000000, 999999999));
-                }
-                $stmt = $this->conn->prepare($sql);
-                $stmt->bind_param(
-                    "sssssssiiss",
-                    $ticket_id,
-                    $ticketData['title'],
-                    $ticketData['description'],
-                    $status,
-                    $priority,
-                    $category,
-                    $type,
-                    $createdBy,
-                    $assignedTo,
-                    $visibility,
-                    $visibilityGroups
-                );
+            if ($e->getCode() !== 1062) {
+                throw $e;
+            }
+            $stmt->close();
+            try {
+                $ticket_id = (string)random_int(100000000, 999999999);
+            } catch (Exception $ex) {
+                $ticket_id = (string)mt_rand(100000000, 999999999);
+            }
+            $stmt = $this->conn->prepare($sql);
+            $stmt->bind_param(
+                "sssssssiiss",
+                $ticket_id,
+                $ticketData['title'],
+                $ticketData['description'],
+                $status,
+                $priority,
+                $category,
+                $type,
+                $createdBy,
+                $assignedTo,
+                $visibility,
+                $visibilityGroups
+            );
+            try {
                 if ($stmt->execute()) {
                     return ['success' => true, 'ticket_id' => $ticket_id];
                 }
+            } catch (mysqli_sql_exception $e2) {
+                // Second attempt also hit duplicate — extremely rare
             }
-            return [
-                'success' => false,
-                'error' => $this->conn->error
-            ];
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Failed to create ticket due to ID collision'];
         }
     }