diff --git a/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_04_time_frequency.py b/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_04_time_frequency.py
index 92a403c11..e1e7b440c 100644
--- a/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_04_time_frequency.py
+++ b/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_04_time_frequency.py
@@ -33,9 +33,6 @@ def get_input_fnames_time_frequency(
     subject: str,
     session: Optional[str],
 ) -> dict:
-    processing = None
-    if cfg.spatial_filter is not None:
-        processing = "clean"
     fname_epochs = BIDSPath(
         subject=subject,
         session=session,
@@ -46,7 +43,7 @@ def get_input_fnames_time_frequency(
         space=cfg.space,
         datatype=cfg.datatype,
         root=cfg.deriv_root,
-        processing=processing,
+        processing="clean",
         suffix="epo",
         extension=".fif",
         check=False,
diff --git a/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_06_make_cov.py b/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_06_make_cov.py
index 4c8d25eac..2cb3b8ebf 100644
--- a/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_06_make_cov.py
+++ b/mne_bids_pipeline/steps/sensor/_06_make_cov.py
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ def get_input_fnames_cov(
 ) -> dict:
     cov_type = _get_cov_type(cfg)
     in_files = dict()
-    processing = "clean" if cfg.spatial_filter is not None else None
     fname_epochs = BIDSPath(
         subject=subject,
         session=session,
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ def get_input_fnames_cov(
         space=cfg.space,
         extension=".fif",
         suffix="epo",
-        processing=processing,
+        processing="clean",
         datatype=cfg.datatype,
         root=cfg.deriv_root,
         check=False,