diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b00777da2..a5d467ec1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ PositionGroup.alter()
 - Allow `ModuleNotFoundError` or `ImportError` for optional dependencies #1023
 - Ensure integrity of group tables #1026
 - Convert list of LFP artifact removed interval list to array #1046
-- Merge duplicate functions in decoding and spikesorting #1050, #1053, #1062, #1069
+- Merge duplicate functions in decoding and spikesorting #1050, #1053, #1058,
+    #1066
 - Revise docs organization.
     - Misc -> Features/ForDevelopers. #1029
     - Installation instructions -> Setup notebook. #1029
diff --git a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_graph.py b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_graph.py
index f437f6276..0ab4ab477 100644
--- a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_graph.py
+++ b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_graph.py
@@ -159,20 +159,6 @@ def _camel(self, table):
 
     # ------------------------------ Graph Nodes ------------------------------
 
-    def _ensure_names(
-        self, table: Union[str, Table] = None
-    ) -> Union[str, List[str]]:
-        """Ensure table is a string."""
-        if table is None:
-            return None
-        if isinstance(table, str):
-            return table
-        if isinstance(table, Iterable) and not isinstance(
-            table, (Table, TableMeta)
-        ):
-            return [ensure_names(t) for t in table]
-        return getattr(table, "full_table_name", None)
-
     def _get_node(self, table: Union[str, Table]):
         """Get node from graph."""
         table = ensure_names(table)
diff --git a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_helper_fn.py b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_helper_fn.py
index 90fd47cc0..0bf61b734 100644
--- a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_helper_fn.py
+++ b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_helper_fn.py
@@ -35,16 +35,35 @@
 
 
 def ensure_names(
-    table: Union[str, Table, Iterable] = None
+    table: Union[str, Table, Iterable] = None, force_list: bool = False
 ) -> Union[str, List[str], None]:
-    """Ensure table is a string."""
+    """Ensure table is a string.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    table : Union[str, Table, Iterable], optional
+        Table to ensure is a string, by default None. If passed as iterable,
+        will ensure all elements are strings.
+    force_list : bool, optional
+        Force the return to be a list, by default False, only used if input is
+        iterable.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    Union[str, List[str], None]
+        Table as a string or list of strings.
+    """
+    # is iterable (list, set, set) but not a table/string
+    is_collection = isinstance(table, Iterable) and not isinstance(
+        table, (Table, TableMeta, str)
+    )
+    if force_list and not is_collection:
+        return [ensure_names(table)]
     if table is None:
         return None
     if isinstance(table, str):
         return table
-    if isinstance(table, Iterable) and not isinstance(
-        table, (Table, TableMeta)
-    ):
+    if is_collection:
         return [ensure_names(t) for t in table]
     return getattr(table, "full_table_name", None)
 
diff --git a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_mixin.py b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_mixin.py
index 533976329..ff3922087 100644
--- a/src/spyglass/utils/dj_mixin.py
+++ b/src/spyglass/utils/dj_mixin.py
@@ -914,11 +914,13 @@ def __rshift__(self, restriction) -> QueryExpression:
 
     def ban_search_table(self, table):
         """Ban table from search in restrict_by."""
-        self._banned_search_tables.update(ensure_names(table))
+        self._banned_search_tables.update(ensure_names(table, force_list=True))
 
     def unban_search_table(self, table):
         """Unban table from search in restrict_by."""
-        self._banned_search_tables.difference_update(ensure_names(table))
+        self._banned_search_tables.difference_update(
+            ensure_names(table, force_list=True)
+        )
 
     def see_banned_tables(self):
         """Print banned tables."""