diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index feae147e..63376c9a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### `Fixed`
 
+- [#748](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/748) - Fix broken phix reference channel when skipping phix removal (reported by @amizeranschi, fix by @muabnezor)
 - [#752](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/752) - Fix QUAST results not being displayed when skipping certain steps (reported by @amizeranschi, fix by @jfy133)
 
 ### `Dependencies`
diff --git a/workflows/mag.nf b/workflows/mag.nf
index ffe5f8ef..3ad2800b 100644
--- a/workflows/mag.nf
+++ b/workflows/mag.nf
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ workflow MAG {
     if (!params.keep_phix) {
         ch_phix_db_file = Channel.value(file("${params.phix_reference}"))
     }
+    else {
+        ch_phix_db_file = Channel.empty()
+    }
 
     if (!params.keep_lambda) {
         ch_lambda_db = Channel.value(file("${params.lambda_reference}"))