diff --git a/PyWGCNA/wgcna.py b/PyWGCNA/wgcna.py
index b7fdc3e..e1d8100 100644
--- a/PyWGCNA/wgcna.py
+++ b/PyWGCNA/wgcna.py
@@ -3123,7 +3123,8 @@ def barplotModuleEigenGene(self, moduleName, metadata, combine=True, colorBar=No
                     ax.remove()
                 ax_legend = fig.add_subplot(gs[:, 1])
                 ax_legend.axis('off')
-                axs_legend = gridspec.GridSpecFromSubplotSpec(len(metadata), 1, subplot_spec=ax_legend,
+                axs_legend = gridspec.GridSpecFromSubplotSpec(len(metadata), 1, 
+                                                              subplot_spec=ax_legend.get_subplotspec(),
                                                               height_ratios=height_ratios)
 
                 ind = [i for i in range(cat.shape[0])]