diff --git a/.ci/test_circuit1k_s2s_nodesets.sh b/.ci/test_circuit1k_s2s_nodesets.sh
index 5d76913..4fd4fc1 100644
--- a/.ci/test_circuit1k_s2s_nodesets.sh
+++ b/.ci/test_circuit1k_s2s_nodesets.sh
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@ parquet-compare-ns \
     ${CIRCUIT%circuit_config.json}nodes.h5 \
     $BASE/touches/structural/circuit.parquet \
     circuit.parquet \
-    4
+    0
diff --git a/.ci/test_circuit1k_spines.sh b/.ci/test_circuit1k_spines.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d437bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ci/test_circuit1k_spines.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+export BASE=$DATADIR/cellular/circuit-1k/
+export CIRCUIT=$BASE/circuit_config.json
+export RECIPE=$BASE/bioname/recipe.json
+export TOUCHES=$BASE/touches/parquet/*.parquet
+
+srun dplace functionalizer \
+    -H \
+    --filters SynapseProperties,SpineMorphologies \
+    --output-dir="$PWD" \
+    --checkpoint-dir="$PWD" \
+    --circuit-config=$CIRCUIT \
+    --recipe=$RECIPE \
+    -- $TOUCHES
+
+python << EOF
+import numpy as np
+import pandas as pd
+df = pd.read_parquet("circuit.parquet")
+assert len(df["spine_morphology"].unique()) > 1
+assert set(df["spine_psd_id"].unique()) == set([-1, 0, 1])
+assert np.all(df["spine_sharing_id"] == -1)  # currently not yet implemented
+EOF
diff --git a/src/functionalizer/filters/implementations/spine_morphologies.py b/src/functionalizer/filters/implementations/spine_morphologies.py
index 9101759..1b1852e 100644
--- a/src/functionalizer/filters/implementations/spine_morphologies.py
+++ b/src/functionalizer/filters/implementations/spine_morphologies.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def __init__(self, recipe, source, target):
         """Initializes the filter using the morphology database."""
         super().__init__(recipe, source, target)
         self._morphologies, self._filter = _create_spine_morphology_udf(
-            recipe.spine_morphologies.path
+            target.spine_morphology_path
         )
 
     def apply(self, circuit):
diff --git a/src/functionalizer/io/circuit.py b/src/functionalizer/io/circuit.py
index 71019fb..7e972f0 100644
--- a/src/functionalizer/io/circuit.py
+++ b/src/functionalizer/io/circuit.py
@@ -293,6 +293,10 @@ def __init__(self, circuit_config: str, population: str, nodeset: str, cache: st
         self.morphologies = MorphologyDB(
             pop_prop.alternate_morphology_formats.get("h5v1", pop_prop.morphologies_dir)
         )
+        if pop_prop.spine_morphologies_dir:
+            self.spine_morphology_path = Path(pop_prop.spine_morphologies_dir)
+        else:
+            self.spine_morphology_path = None
 
         if not os.path.isdir(self._cache):
             os.makedirs(self._cache)