The paper presents an adaptive output-feedback control algorithm for linear time-invariant multi-input multi-output systems subjected to unmatched unknown disturbances. The control algorithm is based on the Falb–Wolovich decoupling method combined with a direct disturbance compensation technique derived from the internal model prin-ciple. The main advantage of the proposed algorithm is that the adaptive law becomes easier to tune due to the decoupling strategy application. By properly selecting the adaptation gains independently the balance between the convergence speed and robustness according to the desired performance requirements can be achieved. In addition, it is possible to get improved control performance in situations where negative inter-channel coupling of an original system has an adverse effect to the overall dynamic of the system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical simulations performed in MATLAB/Simulink.