Partially stabilized zirconia was joined to stainless steel by pressureless active brazing with Ag–Cu filler metal and TiH 2 powder. Microstructures, microchemistry and reaction products of the brazing seam were analyzed. The effects of brazing temperature and holding time on the joint shear strength were also investigated. The results showed that there existed three zones in the brazing seam and a double-layer structure at the ZrO 2 /filler interface. Due to the difference in brazing condition, the microstructures including the thicknesses and compositions of the three zones and two layers were different. It is further found that Ti originated from TiH 2 coating diffused into the whole interlayer, resulting in the reaction products such as CuTi 3 , Ti 3 Cu 3 O, Cu 4 Ti 3 , NiTi 2 , Ni 3 Ti and Ti. The maximum joint shear strength of over 90MPa was obtained due to the improved interface bonding.