diff --git a/lib/hbc/locations.rb b/lib/hbc/locations.rb
index 6f4f310910..1e5c549c69 100644
--- a/lib/hbc/locations.rb
+++ b/lib/hbc/locations.rb
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ module Hbc::Locations
     end
 
     def path(query)
-      query.sub!(%r{\.rb$}i, "")
+      query = query.sub(%r{\.rb$}i, "")
       token_with_tap = if query.include?("/")
                          query
                        else