diff --git a/constellation/util.py b/constellation/util.py
index 61e8497..fd2713b 100644
--- a/constellation/util.py
+++ b/constellation/util.py
@@ -140,15 +140,16 @@ def plot_constellation(
     )
 
     # Plot channel noise
-    noisy_vectors = channel(constellation.repeat(noise_samples, 1))
+    if noise_samples > 0:
+        noisy_vectors = channel(constellation.repeat(noise_samples, 1))
 
-    ax.scatter(
-        *zip(*noisy_vectors.tolist()),
-        marker='.',
-        s=5,
-        c=list(range(order)) * noise_samples,
-        cmap=color_map,
-        norm=color_norm,
-        alpha=0.7,
-        zorder=8
-    )
+        ax.scatter(
+            *zip(*noisy_vectors.tolist()),
+            marker='.',
+            s=5,
+            c=list(range(order)) * noise_samples,
+            cmap=color_map,
+            norm=color_norm,
+            alpha=0.3,
+            zorder=8
+        )