diff --git a/examples/mliap/in.mliap.unified.lj.Ar b/examples/mliap/in.mliap.unified.lj.Ar
index 35808ba8b9..72fe2f8523 100644
--- a/examples/mliap/in.mliap.unified.lj.Ar
+++ b/examples/mliap/in.mliap.unified.lj.Ar
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ mass		1 1.0
 velocity	all create 3.0 87287 loop geom
 
 pair_style	mliap unified mliap_unified_lj_Ar.pkl
-pair_coeff	* * Ar 2.5
+pair_coeff	* * Ar
 
 neighbor	0.3 bin
 neigh_modify	every 1 delay 0 check no
diff --git a/examples/mliap/pickle_mliap_unified_lj_Ar.py b/examples/mliap/pickle_mliap_unified_lj_Ar.py
index b210cc478f..c7a16b44a7 100644
--- a/examples/mliap/pickle_mliap_unified_lj_Ar.py
+++ b/examples/mliap/pickle_mliap_unified_lj_Ar.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import pickle
 import lammps
 import lammps.mliap
 
@@ -17,5 +16,4 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     unified.sigma = 1.0
     unified.rcutfac = 1.25
 
-    with open('mliap_unified_lj_Ar.pkl', 'wb') as fp:
-        pickle.dump(unified, fp)
+    unified.pickle('mliap_unified_lj_Ar.pkl')