Scots left wing Simon Danielli only put his side more than seven points clear when he scored his second try with two minutes to play.
Such was the Romanian impact the sometimes reticent Southland crowd of 12,500 broke into spontaneous applause on half and full time, giving the participants standing ovations.
It was a good-natured gesture by a rugby-savvy community and encapsulated what the Rugby World Cup is about - an appreciation of spirited displays which embrace the game.
The Romanians were clearly inspired by such support - how could you not be in front of a fanbase who rivalled a tin of sardines for density? Such a scene can only be good for rugby's wellbeing.
Scotland have work to do to continue their proud record of making the quarter-finals at every World Cup.
Presuming the All Blacks top pool A - and after Friday night's flawed effort "presuming" remains an appropriate word - Scotland would still struggle in a last eight contest on yesterday's evidence.
Certainly they deserve credit for winning but Romania exposed frailties in their forwards which suggests the Scottish chances of beating England or Argentina are slim.
Coach Andy Robinson admitted as much: "The first 15 minutes we had the right attitude. What happened in the next 60 minutes was disappointing. We turned over two penalties from restarts; we allowed them back into the game and gave them field position. They were a destructive force in the maul and the scrum."
The Scots sometimes looked like they needed William Wallace in blue and white face paint galloping on his trusty steed behind the goal line to lift their heads Braveheart-style. However, they dug deep to pull out two late tries for the win and bonus point.
Skipper Alastair Kellock said: "We didn't intentionally relax but we needed to be more ruthless. The errors were basic - there needed to be more accuracy and urgency at the breakdown."
For Romanian coach Romeo Gontineac it was a significant achievement despite the loss.
"It's about convincing our players they have great potential. I'm proud to be Romanian today. It's just a shame we couldn't match the Scots in the first 10 minutes. We had some problems with turnovers and in the end were separated from victory in the final eight minutes."
At that point it was 24-24 before Scotland produced their narrow escape. It was a far cry from their 2007 match - a 42-0 Scotland rout.
Romanian hooker and man-of-the-match Marius Tincu was in both encounters. He says they proved a few people wrong.
"Before the game no one had much faith in us but we had ambition and there was no let-up in enthusiasm. Unfortunately we lacked in defence in those last eight minutes."
The Romanian pack monstered Scotland on occasion through scrums, mauls and a swag of pick-and-go opportunities.
The try to loosehead prop Mihaita Alexandru Lazar was the culmination of forward toil and No 8 Daniel Carpo's effort came from the power of their scrum near the line.
Scotland were left with limited answers other than relying on counter-attack through a slick midfield in Sean Lamont and Joe Ansbro and rapid wingers Max Evans and Simon Danielli. The result could have been disastrous if it hadn't been for them.
Scotland 34 (M. Blair, J. Ansbro, S. Danielli 2 tries, C. Paterson con, 4 pens) Romania 24 (M. Lazar, D. Carpo tries, M. Dumbrava 2 pens, T. Dimofte 2 pens, con). Halftime: Scotland 18-11.
