diff --git a/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/noise_adding.py b/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/noise_adding.py
index 1e5e68c1d7c..d80e4669a9f 100644
--- a/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/noise_adding.py
+++ b/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/noise_adding.py
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ def __init__(
                 + "sorted qubit pairs to floats"  # pragma: no cover
             )  # pragma: no cover
         self.p = p
+        self.p_func = lambda _: p if isinstance(p, (int, float)) else lambda pair: p.get(pair, 0.0)
         self.target_gate = target_gate
 
     def __call__(
@@ -77,7 +78,6 @@ def __call__(
         """
         if rng is None:
             rng = np.random.default_rng()
-        p = self.p
         target_gate = self.target_gate
 
         # add random Pauli gates with probability p after each of the specified gate
@@ -93,11 +93,8 @@ def __call__(
                 }
                 added_moment_ops = []
                 for pair in target_pairs:
-                    if isinstance(p, float):
-                        p_i = p
-                    elif isinstance(p, Mapping):
-                        pair_sorted_tuple = (pair[0], pair[1])
-                        p_i = p[pair_sorted_tuple]
+                    pair_sorted_tuple = (pair[0], pair[1])
+                    p_i = self.p_func(pair_sorted_tuple)
                     apply = rng.choice([True, False], p=[p_i, 1 - p_i])
                     if apply:
                         choices = [