To obtain a durable Ni coating with excellent adhesion strength on an AZ91D Mg alloy, a pretreatment was performed with a small amount of Cu2+ ions added to the activation bath used in the pretreatment prior to the plating process. In the pretreatment activation process, a high density Cu layer was deposited on both the alpha-phase and beta-phase areas of the substrate accompanied with Mg dissolution. The Cu deposit acted as nucleation seeds for the Zn deposition in the following zincate process which provided a uniform and dense Zn layer almost completely covering the substrate. Then a thin Cu layer was electroplated on this zincated substrate as an undercoating for the succeeding electroplating with Ni. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the Cu deposited by the pretreatment enabled the deposition of a protective Ni layer with few defects. This structure also contributed to the improvement of adhesion strength and corrosion resistance as compared with the non-Cu added sample. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.