diff --git a/h2o-genmodel/src/main/java/hex/genmodel/algos/glm/GlmMojoReader.java b/h2o-genmodel/src/main/java/hex/genmodel/algos/glm/GlmMojoReader.java
index 350d2a9bcecd..1d81b0ba8c32 100644
--- a/h2o-genmodel/src/main/java/hex/genmodel/algos/glm/GlmMojoReader.java
+++ b/h2o-genmodel/src/main/java/hex/genmodel/algos/glm/GlmMojoReader.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ protected void readModelData() throws IOException {
 
     _model._beta = readkv("beta");
     _model._family = readkv("family");
-    _model._dispersion_estimated = readkv("dispersion_estimated", 1);
+    _model._dispersion_estimated = readkv("dispersion_estimated", 0.0);
 
     if (_model instanceof GlmMojoModel) {
       GlmMojoModel m = (GlmMojoModel) _model;