Multiple-scattering theory (MST) is an extremely efficient technique for calculating the electronic structure of an assembly of atoms. The wave function in MST is expanded in terms of spherical waves centered on each atom and indexed by their orbital and azimuthal quantum numbers, l and m. The secular equation which determines the characteristic energies can be truncated at a value of the orbital angular momentum ${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{max}}$, for which the higher angular momentum phase shifts, ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}_{\mathit{l}}$ (lg${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{max}}$), are sufficiently small. Generally, the wave-function coefficients which are calculated from the secular equation are also truncated at ${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{max}}$. Here we point out that this truncation of the wave function is not necessary and is in fact inconsistent with the truncation of the secular equation. A consistent procedure is described in which the states with higher orbital angular momenta are retained but with their phase shifts set to zero. We show that this treatment gives smooth, continuous, and correctly normalized wave functions and that the total charge density calculated from the corresponding Green function agrees with the Lloyd formula result. We also show that this augmented wave function can be written as a linear combination of Andersen's muffin-tin orbitals in the case of muffin-tin potentials, and can be used to generalize the muffin-tin orbital idea to full-cell potentals.