SummaryThe estimation of peak linear response via elastic design (response) spectra continues to form the basis of earthquake‐resistant design of structural systems in various codes of practice all over the world. Many response spectrum‐based formulations of peak linear response require an additional input of the spectral velocity (SV) ordinates consistent with the specified seismic hazard. SV ordinates have been conventionally approximated by pseudo spectral velocity (PSV) ordinates, which are close to the SV ordinates only over the intermediate frequency range coinciding with the velocity‐sensitive region. At long periods, PSV ordinates underestimate the SV ordinates, and this study proposes a formulation of a correction factor (>1) that needs to be multiplied by the PSV ordinates in order to close the gap between the two sets of ordinates. A simple model is proposed in the form of a power function in oscillator period to estimate this factor in terms of two governing parameters which are in turn estimated from two single‐parameter scaling equations. The parameters considered for the scaling equations are (1) the period at which the PSV spectrum is maximized and (2) the rate of decay of the pseudo spectral acceleration (PSA) amplitudes at long periods. For a given damping ratio, four regression coefficients are determined for the scaling equations with the help of 205 ground motions recorded in western USA. A numerical study undertaken with the help of several design PSA spectra and ensembles of spectrum‐compatible ground motions illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed correction factor, together with the proposed scaling models, in comparison with the PSV approximation in a variety of design situations. Both the input parameters mentioned above can be easily obtained from the specified design spectrum, and thus the proposed model is convenient to use.