diff --git a/scripts/python/met_point_obs.py b/scripts/python/met_point_obs.py
index 41bc6462f6..458a91572c 100755
--- a/scripts/python/met_point_obs.py
+++ b/scripts/python/met_point_obs.py
@@ -447,6 +447,8 @@ def convert_point_data(self):
         obs_var_map = {}
         obs_qty_map = {}
 
+        self.use_var_id = not self.is_grib_code()
+
         index = 0
         #names=['typ', 'sid', 'vld', 'lat', 'lon', 'elv', 'var', 'lvl', 'hgt', 'qc', 'obs']
         for csv_point_record in self.point_data: