diff --git a/gc3libs/backends/transport.py b/gc3libs/backends/transport.py
index 4dd128d5..9623c04e 100755
--- a/gc3libs/backends/transport.py
+++ b/gc3libs/backends/transport.py
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ def get(self, source, destination, ignore_nonexisting=False,
                       ignore_nonexisting, overwrite, changed_only)
 
     def _get_impl(self, source, destination):
-        if self.stat(destination).st_size < self.large_file_threshold:
+        if self.stat(source).st_size < self.large_file_threshold:
             self.sftp.get(source, destination)
         else:
             with self.sftp.open(source) as fsrc: