Methods, systems, and devices for reducing charge migration in a memory system are described. The memory system may receive a command to program a first set of memory cells with first data. The memory system may generate a scrambling seed to scramble the first data. Before programming the scrambled data, the memory system may compare a first set of states in the scrambled data with a second set of states in second data to determine an aggregate difference between the sets of states. If the aggregate difference is less than a threshold, the memory system may program the first set of memory cells with the first data. If the aggregate difference is greater than a threshold, the memory system may generate a new scrambling seed to rescramble the first data and determine a new aggregate difference by comparing states of the rescrambled data to the states of the second data.