diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/sortinganalyzer.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/sortinganalyzer.py
index 8e16757bcc..6d23fea7a5 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/sortinganalyzer.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/sortinganalyzer.py
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ def load(cls, folder, recording=None, load_extensions=True, format="auto", backe
         """
         if format == "auto":
             # make better assumption and check for auto guess format
-            if Path(folder).suffix == ".zarr":
+            if Path(folder).suffix == ".zarr" or is_path_remote(folder):
                 format = "zarr"
             else:
                 format = "binary_folder"