Durability and corrosion behavior of refractory lining, a core part of a commercial water‐coal slurry gasifier, largely determine its gas yield rate and carbon conversion rate. In this work, corrosion behavior of high chromite‐containing refractory served for 4200 hours in a water‐coal slurry gasifier was studied, and the role of generated stress cracks on its degradation behavior was elucidated. The results demonstrated that the depth of penetration under the assistance of the cracks was up to 2.60 cm, which was much deeper than that in the case free from stress crack. The sub‐surface, accompanied by cracking, provided a pathway for slag penetration and resulted in more severe corrosion. Furthermore, the isolation layer of (Cr, Fe, Al)2O3 solid solution on the refractory’ surface trapped most of the iron oxides. As a result, a further attack from other main corrosive species was controlled by their diffusion through it.