diff --git a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
index 02496d5c9..e0cfa6197 100644
--- a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
+++ b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
@@ -165,13 +165,27 @@ def _raise_exception(text):
     raise UnsupportedSyntaxError(text)
 
 
-def _coalesce(*args):
-    """wrap the pyarrow coalesce function because NaN != None"""
-    coerced = []
-    for arg in args:
-        # there's no reasonable test to see if we need to do this before we start
-        coerced.append([None if value != value else value for value in arg])  # nosemgrep
-    return compute.coalesce(*coerced)
+def _coalesce(*arrays):
+    """
+    Element-wise coalesce function for multiple numpy arrays.
+    Selects the first non-None item in each row across the input arrays.
+
+    Parameters:
+        arrays: tuple of numpy arrays
+
+    Returns:
+        numpy array with coalesced values
+    """
+    # Start with an array full of None values
+    result = numpy.array(arrays[0], dtype=object)
+
+    mask = result == None
+
+    for arr in arrays[1:]:
+        mask = numpy.array([None if value != value else value for value in result]) == None
+        numpy.copyto(result, arr, where=mask)
+
+    return result
 
 
 # fmt:off
diff --git a/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py b/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
index f800d0435..28ec75705 100644
--- a/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
+++ b/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
@@ -790,11 +790,10 @@
         ("SELECT s.* FROM $planets AS s INNER JOIN $planets AS p USING (id, name)", 9, 20, None),
         ("SELECT p.* FROM $planets AS s INNER JOIN $planets AS p USING (id, name)", 9, 20, None),
         ("SELECT id, name FROM $planets AS s INNER JOIN $planets AS p USING (id, name)", 9, 2, None),
-]
-A = [
+
         ("SELECT DATE_TRUNC('month', birth_date) FROM $astronauts", 357, 1, None),
-        ("SELECT DISTINCT * FROM (SELECT DATE_TRUNC('year', birth_date) AS BIRTH_YEAR FROM $astronauts)", 54, 1, None),
-        ("SELECT DISTINCT * FROM (SELECT DATE_TRUNC('month', birth_date) AS BIRTH_YEAR_MONTH FROM $astronauts)", 247, 1, None),
+        ("SELECT DISTINCT * FROM (SELECT DATE_TRUNC('year', birth_date) AS BIRTH_YEAR FROM $astronauts) AS SQ", 54, 1, None),
+        ("SELECT DISTINCT * FROM (SELECT DATE_TRUNC('month', birth_date) AS BIRTH_YEAR_MONTH FROM $astronauts) AS SQ", 247, 1, None),
         ("SELECT time_bucket(birth_date, 10, 'year') AS decade, count(*) from $astronauts GROUP BY time_bucket(birth_date, 10, 'year')", 6, 2, None),
         ("SELECT time_bucket(birth_date, 6, 'month') AS half, count(*) from $astronauts GROUP BY time_bucket(birth_date, 6, 'month')", 97, 2, None),
     
@@ -802,7 +801,8 @@
         ("SELECT graduate_major, undergraduate_major FROM $astronauts WHERE COALESCE(graduate_major, undergraduate_major) = 'Aeronautical Engineering'", 41, 2, None),
         ("SELECT COALESCE(death_date, '2030-01-01') FROM $astronauts", 357, 1, None),
         ("SELECT * FROM $astronauts WHERE COALESCE(death_date, '2030-01-01') < '2000-01-01'", 30, 19, None),
-
+]
+A = [
         ("SELECT SEARCH(name, 'al'), name FROM $satellites", 177, 2, None),
         ("SELECT name FROM $satellites WHERE SEARCH(name, 'al')", 18, 1, None),
         ("SELECT SEARCH(missions, 'Apollo 11'), missions FROM $astronauts", 357, 2, None),