  The empirical binary properties of brown dwarfs (BDs) differ from those of
normal stars suggesting BDs form a separate population. Recent work by Thies &
Kroupa revealed a discontinuity of the initial mass function (IMF) in the
very-low-mass star regime under the assumption of a low multiplicity of BDs of
about 15 per cent. However, previous observations had suggested that the
multiplicity of BDs may be significantly higher, up to 45 per cent. This
contribution investigates the implication of a high BD multiplicity on the
appearance of the IMF for the Orion Nebula Cluster, Taurus-Auriga, IC 348 and
the Pleiades. We show that the discontinuity remains pronounced even if the
observed MF appears to be continuous, even for a BD binary fraction as high as
60%. We find no evidence for a variation of the BD IMF with star-forming
conditions. The BD IMF has a power-law index alpha = +0.3 and about two BDs
form per 10 low-mass stars assuming equal-mass pairing of BDs.
