The anodizing behavior of a dissimilar friction stir weld of AA5083-O and AA6082-T6 alloys in 4 M H2SO4 solution has been investigated. The anodizing results show that the AA5083-O rich zones were more oxidized during anodizing compared with the AA6082-T6 rich zones. Interestingly, the nugget and the thermomechanically affected regions of the individual parent alloys showed significant reduction in porous anodic oxide thicknesses. Sputtering-deposition of pure aluminum on the weld, prior to anodizing, significantly minimized the variations in the oxide thicknesses across the weld. More importantly, this method prevented the boundary dissolution (associated with the activity of the Mg2Si phase) that is often observed after anodizing the dissimilar weld of the alloys. (C) The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.