diff --git a/scripts/sort_times_into_freqGroups.py b/scripts/sort_times_into_freqGroups.py
index cd4a358fec61a7711be7fe6dda34b228f1091d77..1d77c941cbc9e82fb4089875593fc8050fed0633 100755
--- a/scripts/sort_times_into_freqGroups.py
+++ b/scripts/sort_times_into_freqGroups.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def main(MSfile, numSB=10, DP3fill=True, stepname=None, mergeLastGroup=False, tr
         for ms in time_groups[time]['files']:
             # Get the frequency info
             sw = pt.table(ms+'::SPECTRAL_WINDOW', ack=False)
-            freq = sw.col('REF_FREQUENCY')[0]            
+            freq = sw.col('CHAN_FREQ')[0][0]
             if first:
                 file_bandwidth = sw.col('TOTAL_BANDWIDTH')[0]
                 nchans = sw.col('CHAN_WIDTH')[0].shape[0]