diff --git a/src/codegen/extensions/tools/observation.py b/src/codegen/extensions/tools/observation.py
index 1d12aadc0..6cde37317 100644
--- a/src/codegen/extensions/tools/observation.py
+++ b/src/codegen/extensions/tools/observation.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def render_as_string(self, max_tokens: int = 8000) -> str:
         their string output format.
         """
         rendered = json.dumps(self.model_dump(), indent=2)
-        if 3 * len(rendered) > max_tokens:
+        if len(rendered) > (max_tokens * 3):
             logger.error(f"Observation is too long to render: {len(rendered) * 3} tokens")
             return rendered[:max_tokens] + "\n\n...truncated...\n\n"
         return rendered