diff --git a/src/api.cpp b/src/api.cpp
index a02ed551..8713eec1 100644
--- a/src/api.cpp
+++ b/src/api.cpp
@@ -315,26 +315,19 @@ void check_sparse_inputs(const std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
   }
 }
 
-class SparseDist {
-  public:
-    SparseDist(float dist, long j) : _dist(dist), _j(j) {}
-
-    float dist() const {return _dist; }
-    long j() const {return _j; }
-
-    friend bool operator<(SparseDist const &a, SparseDist const &b)
-    {
-      return a._dist < b._dist;
-    }
-    friend bool operator==(SparseDist const &a, SparseDist const &b)
-    {
-      return a._dist == b._dist;
-    }
-
-  private:
-    float _dist;
-    long _j;
+// Struct that allows sorting by dist but also keeping index
+struct SparseDist {
+  float dist;
+  long j;
 };
+bool operator<(SparseDist const &a, SparseDist const &b)
+{
+  return a.dist < b.dist;
+}
+bool operator==(SparseDist const &a, SparseDist const &b)
+{
+  return a.dist == b.dist;
+}
 
 sparse_coo query_db_sparse(std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
                      const std::vector<size_t> &kmer_lengths,
@@ -398,8 +391,9 @@ sparse_coo query_db_sparse(std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
           }
         }
 
-        if (min_dists.size() < kNN || row_dist < min_dists.top().dist()) {
-          min_dists.push(SparseDist(row_dist, j));
+        if (min_dists.size() < kNN || row_dist < min_dists.top().dist) {
+          SparseDist new_min = {row_dist, j};
+          min_dists.push(new_min);
           if (min_dists.size() > kNN) {
             min_dists.pop();
           }
@@ -409,8 +403,8 @@ sparse_coo query_db_sparse(std::vector<Reference> &ref_sketches,
         std::fill_n(i_vec.begin() + offset, kNN, i);
         for (int k = 0; k < kNN; ++k) {
           SparseDist entry = min_dists.top();
-          j_vec[offset + k] = entry.j();
-          dists[offset + k] = entry.dist();
+          j_vec[offset + k] = entry.j;
+          dists[offset + k] = entry.dist;
           min_dists.pop();
         }