Blends of polylactic acid (PLA) and nanohydroxyapatite (NHA) were prepared through melt‐mixing by varying the composition of NHA from 1 to 5 wt%. The tensile properties of the PLA‐1 wt% NHA nanocomposite exhibited higher values than neat PLA. Beyond 1 wt% NHA, a drop in tensile properties of the PLA–NHA nanocomposites was observed due to agglomeration and poor interfacial adhesion between NHA and PLA. Therefore, NHA was surface modified (mNHA) using three different surface modifiers namely, 3‐aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES), sodium n‐dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and polyethylenimine (PEI). The surface treatment of NHA was studied through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX). Results revealed that the tensile properties increased in order of PLA‐5 wt% mNHA (APTES) followed by PLA‐5 wt% mNHA (SDS), whereas PEI modified NHA resulted in lower tensile properties. Further, increasing mNHA loading to 30 wt%, decreased the tensile strength due to agglomeration of mNHA. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2880–2888, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers