In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of solution for some Riemann–Liouville fractional nonlinear boundary value problems. The positivity of the solution and the monotony of iterations are also considered. Some examples are presented to illustrate the main results. Our results generalize those obtained by Wei et al (Existence and iterative method for some fourth order nonlinear boundary value problems. Appl. Math. Lett. 2019, 87, 101–107.) to the fractional setting.