A low-phosphorous Ni-P coating was prepared on a wrought AZ61 magnesium alloy via electroless deposition for 1 h after an adequate substrate-surface pre-treatment. The prepared coating with a thickness of 10 μm was characterized by the uniform distribution of Ni (95.4 % mass fraction) and P (4.6 % mass fraction) in the cross-section. Microcavities present in the coating resulted in quite a low corrosion resistance of the coated magnesium alloy in a 0.1 M NaCl solution. On the other hand, the coating exhibits a high degree of adhesion, as evidenced by a scratch test, and significantly improves the AZ61 magnesium-alloy microhardness. Keywords: electroless nickel, magnesium alloy, AZ61, characterization of Ni-P coatings Malo porozna Ni-P prevleka je bila pripravljena na povr{ini kovane AZ61 magnezijeve zlitine. Prevleka je bila pripravljena z enourno neelektri~no depozicijo na predhodno ustrezno obdelani povr{ini zlitine. Pripravljena prevleka debeline 10 μm je imela v pre~nem prerezu enakomerno porazdelitev Ni (95,4 % masnih odstotkov) in P (4,6 % masnih odstotkov). Zaradi prisotnosti mikropraznin v izdelani prevleki je korozijska odpornost prevle~ene magnezijeve zlitine v 0,1 M NaCl raztopini slaba. Preizkusi razenja prevleke pa so po drugi strani pokazali zelo dober oprijem izdelane prevleke s povr{ino zlitine in znatno izbolj{anje mikrotrdote AZ61 magnezijeve zlitine.