diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/sortingcomponents/motion_estimation.py b/src/spikeinterface/sortingcomponents/motion_estimation.py
index e7b5e23d15..ef3a39bed1 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/sortingcomponents/motion_estimation.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/sortingcomponents/motion_estimation.py
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ def run(
 
         if histogram_depth_smooth_um is not None:
             bins = np.arange(motion_histogram.shape[1]) * bin_um
-            bins -= np.mean(bins)
+            bins = bins - np.mean(bins)
             smooth_kernel = np.exp(-(bins**2) / (2 * histogram_depth_smooth_um**2))
             smooth_kernel /= np.sum(smooth_kernel)
             motion_histogram = scipy.signal.fftconvolve(motion_histogram, smooth_kernel[None, :], mode="same", axes=1)