This article considers an improvement in dead zone modification scheme for robust model-reference adaptive control of SISO and TITO systems, described by input-output uncertain linear models with actuator faults. In the conventional approach, adaptation of the controller parameters is ceased in the dead zone, which leads to steady state tracking error. This problem is resolved by tuning specific controller parameters inside the dead zone. The stability of the closed loop system and tracking of step commands are verified analytically. A comparative numerical simulation is performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in control of an engine-dynamometer system.