diff --git a/src/AssetControlExtension.php b/src/AssetControlExtension.php
index 32e77890..ac1a7790 100644
--- a/src/AssetControlExtension.php
+++ b/src/AssetControlExtension.php
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ protected function findAssets(DataObject $record)
             }
 
             // Omit variant and merge with set
-            $next = $record->dbObject($field)->getValue();
+            $next = $record->dbObject($field)?->getValue();
             unset($next['Variant']);
             if ($next) {
                 $files[] = $next;
diff --git a/src/File.php b/src/File.php
index 03fca21b..3739b382 100644
--- a/src/File.php
+++ b/src/File.php
@@ -1322,16 +1322,14 @@ public function forTemplate(): string
 
     /**
      * Return a html5 tag of the appropriate for this file (normally img or a)
-     *
-     * @return string
      */
-    public function getTag()
+    public function getTag(): string
     {
         $template = $this->File->getFrontendTemplate();
         if (empty($template)) {
             return '';
         }
-        return (string)$this->renderWith($template);
+        return $this->renderWith($template);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/php/ImageManipulationTest.php b/tests/php/ImageManipulationTest.php
index 5e815f0a..d771ac26 100644
--- a/tests/php/ImageManipulationTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/ImageManipulationTest.php
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 use SilverStripe\Dev\SapphireTest;
 use SilverStripe\View\SSViewer;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+use SilverStripe\View\SSViewer_FromString;
 
 /**
  * ImageTest is abstract and should be overridden with manipulator-specific subtests
@@ -450,7 +451,7 @@ public function testRender(string $template, string $expected)
 
         $this->assertEquals(
             $expected,
-            trim($image->renderWith(SSViewer::fromString($template)) ?? '')
+            trim($image->renderWith(SSViewer_FromString::create($template)) ?? '')
         );
     }