diff --git a/scripts/new_test_subset.py b/scripts/new_test_subset.py
index 03d88494c..dc78d6fbf 100644
--- a/scripts/new_test_subset.py
+++ b/scripts/new_test_subset.py
@@ -661,20 +661,28 @@ def main(
             raise SystemExit()
 
     random.seed(42)  # for reproducibility
+
+    # end goal of this initial step is having a collection of SGs we want to transfer
+    # first process the specific SG/Families
+    # sample_set here will contain SG IDs, or be empty
+    # if we manually specify families, add their corresponding IDs to that set
+    if family_set:
+        sample_set |= set(
+            chain.from_iterable(
+                v for k, v in main_sgs_by_family.items() if k in family_set
+            )
+        )
+
     if families_n:
-        # if there are additional samples specified, find the corresponding families
-        # these specifically requested families & samples are copied over in addition
-        # to the random selection families_n number of families
-        if sample_set:
-            family_set |= {metamist_main_content[sgid]['family'] for sgid in sample_set}
-
-        # family_set is ones we definitely want to include
-        # we need to make sure we don't include them in the random selection
+        # find the family IDs of all SGs we specifically want to transfer
+        family_set |= {metamist_main_content[sgid]['family'] for sgid in sample_set}
+
+        # family_set is ones we definitely want to include. Do a size-weighted
+        # subset of the remaining families, removing specifed ones from consideration
         family_set |= get_random_families_from_fam_sg_dict(
             main_sgs_by_family, family_set, families_n
         )
 
-        # update the set of chosen samples (which can be empty)
         # with all the SGIDs from the selected families
         # chain.from_iterable flattens a generator of all SG ID sets
         # across all families into a single set
@@ -684,33 +692,13 @@ def main(
             )
         )
 
-    elif samples_n:
-        # if there are additional samples specified, find the corresponding families
-        # these specifically requested families & samples are copied over in addition
-        # to the random selection families_n number of families
-        if family_set:
-            # we already have this data in query result
-            sample_set |= set(
-                chain.from_iterable(
-                    v for k, v in main_sgs_by_family.items() if k in family_set
-                )
-            )
-
+    if samples_n:
         # top up the selected SGIDs with random selections
         # resulting SG IDs we want to copy into the test project
         sample_set |= set(
             random.sample(set(metamist_main_content.keys()) - sample_set, samples_n)
         )
 
-    # maybe we only want to copy specific samples or families...
-    else:
-        if sample_set:
-            sample_set |= set(
-                chain.from_iterable(
-                    v for k, v in main_sgs_by_family.items() if k in family_set
-                )
-            )
-
     logging.info(f'Subset to {len(sample_set)} samples')
 
     # Populating test project