diff --git a/bin/live/pycbc_live_combine_single_significance_fits b/bin/live/pycbc_live_combine_single_significance_fits
index 8099475787c..21aaa1afbb4 100644
--- a/bin/live/pycbc_live_combine_single_significance_fits
+++ b/bin/live/pycbc_live_combine_single_significance_fits
@@ -201,8 +201,8 @@ for ifo in args.ifos:
             invalphan,
             args.conservative_percentile
         )
-        cons_alpha = cons_count / cons_invalphan
-        cons_alphas_out[ifo][counter] = cons_alpha
+        # Conservative alpha estimate using percentile rather than mean
+        cons_alphas_out[ifo][counter] = cons_count / cons_invalphan 
         alphas_out[ifo][counter] = mean_alpha
 
         # To get the count values, we need to convert to rates and back again