diff --git a/examples/nbody/nbody.cpp b/examples/nbody/nbody.cpp
index 45beeb3cb1..8334886b73 100644
--- a/examples/nbody/nbody.cpp
+++ b/examples/nbody/nbody.cpp
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ namespace usellama
                 return FP{1} / sqrt(distSixth);
             }
         }();
-        const auto sts = (pj(tag::Mass{}) * timestep) * invDistCube;
+        const auto sts = pj(tag::Mass{}) * timestep * invDistCube;
         pi(tag::Vel{}) += dist * sts;
     }
 
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ namespace manualAoS
         const FP distSqr = eps2 + distance.x + distance.y + distance.z;
         const FP distSixth = distSqr * distSqr * distSqr;
         const FP invDistCube = 1.0f / std::sqrt(distSixth);
-        const FP sts = pj.mass * invDistCube * timestep;
+        const FP sts = pj.mass * timestep * invDistCube;
         pi.vel += distance * sts;
     }
 
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ namespace manualSoA
         const FP distSqr = eps2 + xdistance + ydistance + zdistance;
         const FP distSixth = distSqr * distSqr * distSqr;
         const FP invDistCube = 1.0f / std::sqrt(distSixth);
-        const FP sts = pjmass * invDistCube * timestep;
+        const FP sts = pjmass * timestep * invDistCube;
         pivelx += xdistance * sts;
         pively += ydistance * sts;
         pivelz += zdistance * sts;
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ namespace manualAoSoA
         const FP distSqr = eps2 + xdistance + ydistance + zdistance;
         const FP distSixth = distSqr * distSqr * distSqr;
         const FP invDistCube = 1.0f / std::sqrt(distSixth);
-        const FP sts = pjmass * invDistCube * timestep;
+        const FP sts = pjmass * timestep * invDistCube;
         pivelx += xdistance * sts;
         pively += ydistance * sts;
         pivelz += zdistance * sts;
@@ -849,7 +849,8 @@ namespace manualAoSoAManualAVX
             else
                 return _mm256_div_ps(_mm256_set1_ps(1.0f), _mm256_sqrt_ps(distSixth));
         }();
-        const __m256 sts = _mm256_mul_ps(_mm256_mul_ps(pjmass, invDistCube), vTIMESTEP);
+        // FIXME(bgruber): we could keep pjmass scalar for the update8 version:
+        const __m256 sts = _mm256_mul_ps(_mm256_mul_ps(pjmass, vTIMESTEP), invDistCube);
         pivelx = _mm256_fmadd_ps(xdistanceSqr, sts, pivelx);
         pively = _mm256_fmadd_ps(ydistanceSqr, sts, pively);
         pivelz = _mm256_fmadd_ps(zdistanceSqr, sts, pivelz);
@@ -1018,7 +1019,7 @@ namespace manualAoSoASIMD
     };
 
 
-    template<typename Simd>
+    template<typename Simd, typename SimdOrScalar>
     inline void pPInteraction(
         Simd piposx,
         Simd piposy,
@@ -1029,7 +1030,7 @@ namespace manualAoSoASIMD
         Simd pjposx,
         Simd pjposy,
         Simd pjposz,
-        Simd pjmass)
+        SimdOrScalar pjmass)
     {
         const Simd xdistance = piposx - pjposx;
         const Simd ydistance = piposy - pjposy;
@@ -1060,7 +1061,7 @@ namespace manualAoSoASIMD
                 return FP{1} / xsimd::sqrt(distSixth);
             }
         }();
-        const Simd sts = pjmass * invDistCube * timestep;
+        const Simd sts = pjmass * timestep * invDistCube;
         pivelx = xdistanceSqr * sts + pivelx;
         pively = ydistanceSqr * sts + pively;
         pivelz = zdistanceSqr * sts + pivelz;
@@ -1091,7 +1092,7 @@ namespace manualAoSoASIMD
                     const Simd pjposx = blockJ.pos.x.get(j);
                     const Simd pjposy = blockJ.pos.y.get(j);
                     const Simd pjposz = blockJ.pos.z.get(j);
-                    const Simd pjmass = blockJ.mass.get(j);
+                    const FP pjmass = blockJ.mass.get(j);
 
                     pPInteraction(piposx, piposy, piposz, pivelx, pively, pivelz, pjposx, pjposy, pjposz, pjmass);
                 }
@@ -1346,7 +1347,7 @@ namespace manualAoSSIMD
                 const Simd pjposx(pj.pos.x);
                 const Simd pjposy(pj.pos.y);
                 const Simd pjposz(pj.pos.z);
-                const Simd pjmass(pj.mass);
+                const FP pjmass(pj.mass);
 
                 pPInteraction(piposx, piposy, piposz, pivelx, pively, pivelz, pjposx, pjposy, pjposz, pjmass);
             }
@@ -1440,7 +1441,7 @@ namespace manualSoASIMD
                     Simd(posx[j]),
                     Simd(posy[j]),
                     Simd(posz[j]),
-                    Simd(mass[j]));
+                    mass[j]);
             pivelx.store_aligned(velx + i);
             pively.store_aligned(vely + i);
             pivelz.store_aligned(velz + i);