diff --git a/R/spicy.R b/R/spicy.R
index 388d085..7759ac7 100644
--- a/R/spicy.R
+++ b/R/spicy.R
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ getPairwise <- function(
     spatialCoordCols = c("x", "y")) {
   if (is(cells, "SummarizedExperiment")) {
     cells <- .format_data(
-      cells, imageIDCol, cellTypeCol, spatialCoordCols
+      cells, imageIDCol, cellTypeCol, spatialCoordCols, FALSE
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/R/utilities.R b/R/utilities.R
index 6de75e8..e293bb9 100644
--- a/R/utilities.R
+++ b/R/utilities.R
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ isKonditional <- function(konditionalResult) {
 #' @importFrom cli cli_abort cli_inform
 #' @noRd
 .format_data <- function(
-    cells, imageIDCol, cellTypeCol, spatialCoordCols, verbose) {
+    cells, imageIDCol, cellTypeCol, spatialCoordCols, verbose = FALSE) {
     if (is(cells, "data.frame")) {
         # pass
     } else if (is(cells, "SpatialExperiment")) {