An important limitation in applying pulsed-neutron-capture (PNC) logs to measure fluid saturation is the imperfect correction for the influence of rock-matrix shaliness. Most methods for calculating saturations when log data are influenced by shaliness use gamma ray response to divide the SIGMA measured into clean sand and shale components. The nonlinear relation between shale volume and fractional gamma ray response commonly assumed results in significantly smaller correction for intermediate shaliness than would a linear relationship. This paper presents core data that support the idea that SIGMA(ma) varies almost linearly with gamma ray response. A simple method to compensate for shaliness is proposed that uses gamma ray response to predict composite SIGMA(ma) rather than dividing the rock matrix into sand and shale components.