diff --git a/mne/preprocessing/_regress.py b/mne/preprocessing/_regress.py
index 6a87649f138..d7d54c637d6 100644
--- a/mne/preprocessing/_regress.py
+++ b/mne/preprocessing/_regress.py
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from .._fiff.pick import _picks_to_idx, pick_info
+from .._fiff.proj import _needs_eeg_average_ref_proj
 from ..defaults import _BORDER_DEFAULT, _EXTRAPOLATE_DEFAULT, _INTERPOLATION_DEFAULT
 from ..epochs import BaseEpochs
 from ..evoked import Evoked
 from ..io import BaseRaw
-from ..minimum_norm.inverse import _needs_eeg_average_ref_proj
 from ..utils import (
     _check_fname,
     _check_option,