Summary In this article, the equivalent control strategy based on Laplace transform is proposed for the problem of stochastic delay in networked control systems. The original system is transformed into an equivalent control system without random delay block by Laplace transform. Then, a new augmented variable and equivalent control system is introduced to construct an augmented system. An adaptive fault diagnosis observer is designed based on the augmented system. The adaptive turning rate of the observer is obtained by solving the corresponding linear matrix inequality. Based on the information of online fault diagnosis and state estimation, a fault‐tolerant controller based on PI control strategy is designed to compensate the fault. Finally, a model of the switched reluctance motor system is considered to show the effectiveness of this method.