Abstract Certain positive-parity dibaryon channels, corresponding to multiplets of spin-flavor (J, F) = (0, 1), (2, 8 ) and (3, 10 ∗ ) , are expected, on qualitative grounds, to support six-quark configurations lying below super-allowed (fall apart) decay thresholds, in the SU(3)F symmetry limit. In view of the significant lowering of color magnetic (hyperfine) attraction induced by the breaking of this symmetry in the first of these multiplets (the well-known H channel) we investigate the effect of symmetry breaking on the remaining candidate dibaryon channels. While the (3, 10∗) is found to be largely unaffected, hyperfine binding is decreased in the (2, 8) multiplet, dramatically so for the least strange members of the multiplet.