diff --git a/hdbscan/hdbscan_.py b/hdbscan/hdbscan_.py
index 52d06203..ca9e9575 100644
--- a/hdbscan/hdbscan_.py
+++ b/hdbscan/hdbscan_.py
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ def hdbscan(X, min_cluster_size=5, min_samples=None, alpha=1.0,
     if min_samples <= 0 or min_cluster_size <= 0:
         raise ValueError('Min samples and Min cluster size must be positive integers')
 
-    if alpha <= 0.0 or type(alpha) is not float:
+    if type(alpha) is not float or alpha <= 0.0:
         raise ValueError('Alpha must be a positive float value greater than 0!')
 
     if leaf_size < 1: