diff --git a/scvi/model/base/_archesmixin.py b/scvi/model/base/_archesmixin.py
index 8ba780ed98..92446f45af 100644
--- a/scvi/model/base/_archesmixin.py
+++ b/scvi/model/base/_archesmixin.py
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ def prepare_query_anndata(
         Query adata ready to use in `load_query_data` unless `return_reference_var_names`
         in which case a pd.Index of reference var names is returned.
         """
-        _, var_names, _ = _get_loaded_data(reference_model)
+        _, var_names, _ = _get_loaded_data(reference_model, device="cpu")
         var_names = pd.Index(var_names)
 
         if return_reference_var_names: