T6-treated 20 wt% B 4 Cp/6061Al sheets were joined under welding speeds of 400-1200 mm/min by friction stir welding (FSW) with a threaded cermet pin. The macro-defect-free FSW joints could be achieved at high welding speeds up to 1200 mm/min, but larger plunge depth was required at the welding speeds of 800 and 1200 mm/min to eliminate the tunnel defect. In the nugget zone (NZ) of the joints, the B 4 C particles were broken up and uniformly redistributed. The NZ exhibited lower hardness than the base metal (BM), and the hardness value almost did not change with increasing welding speed, attributable to the dissolution of precipitates. Compared with the BM, the joints showed lower tensile strength. As the welding speed increased from 400 to 800 mm/min, the joint efficiencies were nearly the same and up to ~ 73%. When the welding speed increased up to 1200 mm/min, the tensile strength significantly decreased, due to the occurrence of kissing bond defect at the bottom of the NZ. With increasing welding speed, the fracture location of the joints transferred gradually from the heat-affected zone to the NZ due to the kissing bond defects.