It's not novel. Popper did not subscribe to strict positivism. He believed it made for a stronger theory.
Popper is one of my favorite philosophers, and anybody who has read him in detail would not be surprised by anything I'm saying.
Discussion
Popper's critical rationalism emphasized both the importance of having conjecture and refutation at the center of scientific inquiry. Both empiricism and logical deduction were seen as important tools in this regard. To the extent that people believe Popper was a strict positivist, they have absorbed a false folk viewpoint on the matter.
