This paper deals with robust adaptive control of a class of nonlinear systems preceded by unknown hysteresis nonlinearities. By using a Prandtl-Ishlinskii model with play and stop operators, we attempt to fuse the model of hysteresis with the available control techniques without necessarily constructing a hysteresis inverse. A robust adaptive control scheme is therefore proposed. The global stability of the adaptive system and tracking a desired trajectory to a certain precision are achieved. Simulation results attained for a nonlinear system are presented to illustrate and further validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.