Actually using $@ as a boolean is a bug waiting to happen. It relies on the exception being a non-empty non-zero string, and strange interactions between object destructors can sometimes break that assumption.

A safer pattern is

unless (eval { ...; 1 }) {
  ... # handle the error in $@
}
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or for simpler cases,

eval { ...; 1 } or return undef;

return undef unless eval { ...; 1 };
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Eval is guaranteed to return a false value on an exception, so you ensure your expression ends with a true value, and now you aren't at the mercy of the exception text/object.