AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel samples were plasma nitrided at 420 °C for 6 h in vacuum atmosphere by glow discharge technique, in the presence of nitrogen gas. Plain fatigue and fretting fatigue tests were carried out on unnitrided and plasma nitrided samples. Plasma nitrided samples exhibited higher surface hardness, compressive residual stresses at the surface and lower surface roughness compared with unnitrided samples. However, plasma nitrided samples exhibited inferior plain fatigue and fretting fatigue lives compared with unnitrided samples. This was attributed to segregation of chromium at the grain boundaries of plasma nitrided specimens which might have weakened the regions near grain boundaries resulting in early crack initiation and accelerated crack propagation. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.