The estimation of the growth of propagating instability waves in laminar boundary layers is considered when the Reynolds number is sufficiently large for the mean flow to deviate only slightly from a truly parallel flow. An approximate solution for the linear perturbation is sought in the form of a scaled solution of the related locally parallel flow problem. The amplitude scaling is chosen so as to satisfy the full linearized perturbation equations as closely as possible by making the mean-square deviation of the remainder a minimum. By re-arranging the terms in the equations so that some of the small correction terms arising from the non-parallel mean flow are contained in the ordinary differential equation (ODE) defining the quasi-parallel flow solution, a useful simplification is obtained for the scaling function. Then a modified Orr–Sommerfeld equation defines the base solution and the differential expression for the scaling that can be integrated forms a simple conservation relation.