diff --git a/timm/models/metaformers.py b/timm/models/metaformers.py
index 7a90b448..1cb13141 100644
--- a/timm/models/metaformers.py
+++ b/timm/models/metaformers.py
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ class MetaFormer(nn.Module):
         return x if pre_logits else self.head.fc(x)
         
     def forward_features(self, x):
-        x = self.patch_embed(x)
+        x = self.stem(x)
         x = self.stages(x)
         x = self.norm_pre(x)
         return x