The evolution of the microstructure and crystallographic texture of a polycrystalline Fe 3 Al alloy during rolling and subsequent annealing was studied. For this purpose optical microscopy, single orientation determination in the scanning electron microscope and X-ray texture measurements were carried out on both rolled and annealed specimens. During warm rolling (ε m a x = 80%, T r o l l = 560 °C) a strong texture fibre close to {111)( uvw ) with a maximum at {557} 110 was developed. During the subsequent heat treatment (750 °C, salt bath) the orientation distribution did not change substantially, i.e. the texture close to {111} uvw was essentially preserved. For annealing times less than 50 s the {557} 110 orientation remained the dominant texture component. For annealing times exceeding 50 s the {557} 110 orientation considerably decreased and the {111} 112 orientation, which was nearly unaffected by annealing, became the main orientation. These texture changes, which were studied in detail by use of single orientation determination, were interpreted in terms of preferred recovery in {111} 112 and preferred recrystallization in {557} 110 oriented grains.