diff --git a/safeeyes/plugins/healthstats/plugin.py b/safeeyes/plugins/healthstats/plugin.py
index e1cae38..72324e5 100644
--- a/safeeyes/plugins/healthstats/plugin.py
+++ b/safeeyes/plugins/healthstats/plugin.py
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ def init(ctx, safeeyes_config, plugin_config):
             'total_resets': 0,
         }
 
-        session = context['session']['plugin'].get('healthstats', {}) | defaults
+        # session = context['session']['plugin'].get('healthstats', {}) | defaults
+        session = context['session']['plugin'].get('healthstats', {}).copy()
+        session.update(defaults) # refactored to maintain compatibility with python3.8 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (dict | dict syntax was introduced in python3.9).
         if 'no_of_breaks' in session:
             # Ignore old format session.
             session = defaults