diff --git a/R/filter_clones.R b/R/filter_clones.R
index 2fa90a3..f2aa432 100644
--- a/R/filter_clones.R
+++ b/R/filter_clones.R
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ count_retained_clones <- function(count_data, thresholds, count_column,
 
       # Be explicit when the count is zero
       if (nrow(n_clones) == 0) {
-        n_clones < data.table(cnt = c(0L))
+        n_clones <- data.table(cnt = c(0L))
       }
 
       # have to do this so the merge later can find a common column