diff --git a/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm b/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
index 4ba5588bc6..74ed2d4528 100755
--- a/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
+++ b/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
@@ -3890,10 +3890,7 @@ sub setup_logic_lai_streams {
   if ( &value_is_true($nl_flags->{'use_crop'}) && &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_lai_streams'))  ) {
     $log->fatal_error("turning use_lai_streams on is incompatable with use_crop set to true.");
   }
-  if ( ($nl_flags->{'bgc_mode'} eq "sp" || $nl_flags->{'bgc_mode'} eq "fates") ) {
-     if ( $nl_flags->{'bgc_mode'} eq "fates" && ! &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_fates_sp')) && &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_lai_streams'))) { 
-          $log->fatal_error("Must have use_fates_sp turned on to run FATES with LAI streams.");
-      }
+  if ( $nl_flags->{'bgc_mode'} eq "sp" || ($nl_flags->{'bgc_mode'} eq "fates" && &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_fates_sp')) )) {
      if ( &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_lai_streams')) ) {
        add_default($opts, $nl_flags->{'inputdata_rootdir'}, $definition, $defaults, $nl, 'use_lai_streams');
        add_default($opts, $nl_flags->{'inputdata_rootdir'}, $definition, $defaults, $nl, 'lai_mapalgo',