The influence of palladium-ceria interactions on the reactivity of palladium in but-1-yae hydrogenation has been investigated and compared with previous results obtained on alumina. The main differences from Pd-alnmina catalysts are (i) the enhancement of the turnover frequency ascribed to electron transfer from ceria to Pd, (ii) the diminution of the selectivity to but-l-ene, atm'buted to hydrogen spiUover.