Disclosed are methods and apparatus for rejecting unreliable downlink (DL) transmit power control (TPC) commands based on signal-to-interference-ratio estimates (SIRE). The method includes receiving by a user equipment (UE) a DL transmit power control (TPC) command from a base station; calculating a signal-to-interference ratio estimate (SIRE) for the DL channel; determining a scaling factor for a DLTPC rejection threshold based on the DL channel SIRE; adjusting the DLTPC rejection threshold based on the determined scaling factor; and rejecting or accepting the DLTPC command based on the adjusted DLTPC rejection threshold.