diff --git a/src/api.cpp b/src/api.cpp
index 8713eec1..10558a8e 100644
--- a/src/api.cpp
+++ b/src/api.cpp
@@ -380,6 +380,13 @@ sparse_coo query_db_sparse(std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
             }
           }
         }
+        if (min_dists.size() < kNN || row_dist < min_dists.top().dist) {
+          SparseDist new_min = {row_dist, j};
+          min_dists.push(new_min);
+          if (min_dists.size() > kNN) {
+            min_dists.pop();
+          }
+        }
         if ((i * ref_sketches.size() + j) % update_every == 0) {
 #pragma omp critical
           {
@@ -390,24 +397,15 @@ sparse_coo query_db_sparse(std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
             }
           }
         }
+      }
 
-        if (min_dists.size() < kNN || row_dist < min_dists.top().dist) {
-          SparseDist new_min = {row_dist, j};
-          min_dists.push(new_min);
-          if (min_dists.size() > kNN) {
-            min_dists.pop();
-          }
-        }
-
-        long offset = i * kNN;
-        std::fill_n(i_vec.begin() + offset, kNN, i);
-        for (int k = 0; k < kNN; ++k) {
-          SparseDist entry = min_dists.top();
-          j_vec[offset + k] = entry.j;
-          dists[offset + k] = entry.dist;
-          min_dists.pop();
-        }
-
+      long offset = i * kNN;
+      std::fill_n(i_vec.begin() + offset, kNN, i);
+      for (int k = 0; k < kNN; ++k) {
+        SparseDist entry = min_dists.top();
+        j_vec[offset + k] = entry.j;
+        dists[offset + k] = entry.dist;
+        min_dists.pop();
       }
     }
   }