diff --git a/nes/__init__.py b/nes/__init__.py
index 0234c9469176e1099ea6a98e3d319a5b1d9f0c04..818c5fe7adf52a5f4c6d4a3e9735b9378756e6d5 100644
--- a/nes/__init__.py
+++ b/nes/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__date__ = "2025-07-03"
+__date__ = "2025-07-10"
 __version__ = "1.1.11"
 __all__ = [
     'open_netcdf', 'concatenate_netcdfs', 'create_nes', 'from_shapefile', 'calculate_geometry_area', 'Nes', 'LatLonNes',
diff --git a/nes/methods/spatial_join.py b/nes/methods/spatial_join.py
index bfe9cc16ad09b09091c1958c0d99ac9fc25569b8..6e16cb674e26759b2d70269283349e6cff58ca69 100644
--- a/nes/methods/spatial_join.py
+++ b/nes/methods/spatial_join.py
@@ -41,8 +41,12 @@ def spatial_join(self, ext_shp, method=None, var_list=None, info=False, apply_bb
             sys.stdout.flush()
         self.create_shapefile()
 
-    ext_shp = __prepare_external_shapefile(self, ext_shp=ext_shp, var_list=var_list, info=info,
-                                           apply_bbox=apply_bbox)
+    if method == "nearest":
+        ext_shp = __prepare_external_shapefile(self, ext_shp=ext_shp, var_list=var_list, info=info,
+                                               apply_bbox=False)
+    else:
+        ext_shp = __prepare_external_shapefile(self, ext_shp=ext_shp, var_list=var_list, info=info,
+                                               apply_bbox=apply_bbox)
 
     if method == "nearest":
         # Nearest centroids to the shapefile polygons