diff --git a/python/cuml/dask/naive_bayes/naive_bayes.py b/python/cuml/dask/naive_bayes/naive_bayes.py
index 5a749be30a..6dc9bd10a5 100644
--- a/python/cuml/dask/naive_bayes/naive_bayes.py
+++ b/python/cuml/dask/naive_bayes/naive_bayes.py
@@ -136,8 +136,8 @@ def _merge_counts_to_model(models):
         modela = first(models)
 
         for model in models[1:]:
-            modela._feature_count_ += model._feature_count_
-            modela._class_count_ += model._class_count_
+            modela.feature_count_ += model.feature_count_
+            modela.class_count_ += model.class_count_
         return modela
 
     @staticmethod