A simple isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method (RP-HPLC) was developed for the simultaneous determination of buprenorphine hydrochloride, naloxone hydrochloride dihydrate and its major impurity, noroxymorphone, in pharmaceutical tablets. The chromatographic separation was achieved with 10 mmol L(-1) potassium phosphate buffer adjusted to pH 6.0 with orthophosphoric acid and acetonitrile (17:83, v/v) as mobile phase, a C-18 column, Perfectsil Target ODS3 (150 mm x 4.6mm i.d., 5 microm) kept at 35 degrees C and UV detection at 210 nm. The compounds were eluted isocratically at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1). The average retention times for naloxone, noroxymorphone and buprenorphine were 2.4, 3.8 and 8.1 min, respectively. The method was validated according to the ICH guidelines. The validation characteristics included accuracy, precision, linearity, range, specificity, limit of quantitation and robustness. The calibration curves were linear (r>0.996) over the concentration range 0.22-220 microg mL(-1) for buprenorphine hydrochloride and 0.1-100 microg mL(-1) for naloxone hydrochloride dihydrate and noroxymorphone. The recoveries for all three compounds were above 96%. No spectral or chromatographic interferences from the tablet excipients were found. This method is rapid and simple, does not require any sample preparation and is suitable for routine quality control analyses.