An effective technique to improve the stop‐band frequency response of direct‐coupled resonators in substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is introduced. Regular inductive‐iris filters in SIW technology are supplemented with H‐plane frequency‐dependent inverters which not only create transmission zeros but also serve as the proper impedance inverter. A synthesis technique is introduced to prescribe transmission zeros at finite frequencies on either side of the pass band, symmetrically or asymmetrically. Two different topologies of frequency‐dependent inverters for X‐band SIW band pass filters demonstrate that attenuation poles can be created on both side of the passband and significantly improve the filters' stop‐band performences. Measurements confirm the validity of the presented design approach. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:237–242, 2014.