diff --git a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
index e3a049642170385c6ab64e2bd96a95070aec0b01..d9fe537fb9587bd167c1eff13f4331621a6d09be 100644
--- a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
+++ b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
@@ -238,7 +238,10 @@ class PineconeIndex(BaseIndex):
                 )
                 index = None
         if self.index is not None and self.host == "":
+            index = self.index
             self.host = self.client.describe_index(self.index_name)["host"]
+        elif self.index is not None:
+            index = self.index
         return index
 
     async def _init_async_index(self, force_create: bool = False):