diff --git a/src/tensors/abstractblocktensor/abstractarray.jl b/src/tensors/abstractblocktensor/abstractarray.jl
index 6690f14..b34a3e1 100644
--- a/src/tensors/abstractblocktensor/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/src/tensors/abstractblocktensor/abstractarray.jl
@@ -190,13 +190,20 @@ end
 # end
 
 Base.similar(t::AbstractBlockTensorMap) = similar(t, eltype(t), space(t))
+Base.similar(t::AbstractBlockTensorMap, P::TensorMapSumSpace) = similar(t, eltype(t), P)
 
 # make sure tensormap specializations are not used for sumspaces:
 function Base.similar(
     t::AbstractTensorMap, ::Type{TorA}, P::TensorMapSumSpace{S}
 ) where {S,TorA}
     if TorA <: AbstractTensorMap
-        return BlockTensorMap{TorA}(undef_blocks, P)
+        # might need to change the type of the tensor map to account for the new space
+        TT = similar_tensormaptype(TorA, P)
+        return if issparse(t)
+            SparseBlockTensorMap{TT}(undef, P)
+        else
+            BlockTensorMap{TT}(undef, P)
+        end
     elseif TorA <: Number
         T = TorA
         A = TensorKit.similarstoragetype(t, T)
@@ -212,6 +219,16 @@ function Base.similar(
     return BlockTensorMap{TT}(undef, P)
 end
 
+function similar_tensormaptype(
+    T::Type{<:AbstractTensorMap}, P::TensorMapSumSpace{S}
+) where {S}
+    if isconcretetype(T)
+        return tensormaptype(S, numout(P), numin(P), storagetype(T))
+    else
+        return AbstractTensorMap{scalartype(T),S,numout(P),numin(P)}
+    end
+end
+
 # implementation in type domain
 function Base.similar(::Type{T}, P::TensorMapSumSpace) where {T<:AbstractBlockTensorMap}
     return T(undef_blocks, P)
diff --git a/src/tensors/sparseblocktensor.jl b/src/tensors/sparseblocktensor.jl
index 4d13d88..d2a684e 100644
--- a/src/tensors/sparseblocktensor.jl
+++ b/src/tensors/sparseblocktensor.jl
@@ -104,18 +104,6 @@ function sprand(::Type{T}, V::VectorSpace, p::Real) where {T<:Number}
     return sprand(T, V ← one(V), p)
 end
 
-# specific implementation for SparseBlockTensorMap with Sumspace -> returns `SparseBlockTensorMap`
-function Base.similar(
-    ::SparseBlockTensorMap{TT}, TorA::Type, space::TensorMapSumSpace{S}
-) where {TT,S}
-    if TorA <: AbstractTensorMap
-        TT′ = TorA
-    else
-        TT′ = tensormaptype(S, numout(space), numin(space), TorA)
-    end
-    return SparseBlockTensorMap{TT′}(undef_blocks, space)
-end
-
 # Properties
 # ----------
 TK.space(t::SparseBlockTensorMap) = t.space