diff --git a/index/secondary_index_manager.cc b/index/secondary_index_manager.cc
index eb16492042..1862393b34 100644
--- a/index/secondary_index_manager.cc
+++ b/index/secondary_index_manager.cc
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ sstring index_name_from_table_name(const sstring& table_name) {
 }
 
 std::set<sstring>
-existing_index_names(const std::vector<schema_ptr>& tables, std::string_view cf_to_exclude) {
+existing_index_names(std::span<const schema_ptr> tables, std::string_view cf_to_exclude) {
     std::set<sstring> names;
     for (auto& schema : tables) {
         if (!cf_to_exclude.empty() && schema->cf_name() == cf_to_exclude) {
diff --git a/index/secondary_index_manager.hh b/index/secondary_index_manager.hh
index f70ab6670d..77b0f7e9e9 100644
--- a/index/secondary_index_manager.hh
+++ b/index/secondary_index_manager.hh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ sstring index_name_from_table_name(const sstring& table_name);
 
 /// Given a list of base-table schemas, return all their secondary indexes, except that specified in cf_to_exclude.
 std::set<sstring>
-existing_index_names(const std::vector<schema_ptr>& tables, std::string_view cf_to_exclude);
+existing_index_names(std::span<const schema_ptr> tables, std::string_view cf_to_exclude);
 
 /// Given a base-table keyspace and table name, return the first available index
 /// name (containing index_name_root if specified).