diff --git a/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding.py b/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding.py
index b51a25f..37ac5d7 100644
--- a/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding.py
+++ b/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding.py
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ def _decoding_output_to_dict(self, out):
             'prediction', len(decoded_dict['probability'])).astype('U25')
         return decoded_dict
 
-    def _threshold_unknown_by_prob(self, decoded_dict, unknown_index, pred_prob_thresh=0.5):
+    def _threshold_unknown_by_prob(self, decoded_dict, unknown_index, pred_prob_thresh=0.95):
         """Threshold the decoded spots to identify unknown. If the highest probability
         if below a certain threshold, the spot will be classfied as Unknown.
 
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ def predict(self,
                 spots_intensities_vec,
                 num_iter=500,
                 batch_size=1000,
-                pred_prob_thresh=0.5,
+                pred_prob_thresh=0.95,
                 rescue_errors=True,
                 rescue_mixed=False):
         """Predict the gene assignment of each spot.
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ def predict(self,
                 `[num_spots, (rounds * channels)]`.
             num_iter (int): Number of iterations for training. Defaults to 500.
             batch_size (int): Size of batches for training. Defaults to 1000.
-            pred_prob_thresh (float): The threshold of unknown category, within [0,1]. Defaults to 0.5.
+            pred_prob_thresh (float): The threshold of unknown category, within [0,1]. Defaults to 0.95.
             rescue_errors (bool): Whether to check if `'Background'`-  and `'Unknown'`-assigned
                 spots have a Hamming distance of 1 to other barcodes.
             rescue_mixed (bool): Whether to check if low probability predictions are the result of
diff --git a/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding_test.py b/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding_test.py
index c1de046..a0e8728 100644
--- a/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding_test.py
+++ b/deepcell_spots/applications/spot_decoding_test.py
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ def test_spot_decoding_app(self):
 
         spots_intensities_vec21 = np.ones((100, 6))
         decoding_dict_trunc21 = app2.predict(
-            spots_intensities_vec=spots_intensities_vec21, num_iter=20, batch_size=100
+            spots_intensities_vec=spots_intensities_vec21, num_iter=20, batch_size=100,
+            pred_prob_thresh=0.5
         )
         self.assertListEqual(
             decoding_dict_trunc21["predicted_id"].tolist(), (2 * np.ones((100,))).tolist()
@@ -85,7 +86,8 @@ def test_spot_decoding_app(self):
 
         spots_intensities_vec22 = np.zeros((100, 6))
         decoding_dict_trunc22 = app2.predict(
-            spots_intensities_vec=spots_intensities_vec22, num_iter=20, batch_size=100
+            spots_intensities_vec=spots_intensities_vec22, num_iter=20, batch_size=100,
+            pred_prob_thresh=0.5
         )
         self.assertListEqual(
             decoding_dict_trunc22["predicted_id"].tolist(), np.ones((100,)).tolist()