A hydrothermally treated zirconia colloid was introduced during the precipitation of hydroxyapatite (HAP) to achieve an HAP-zirconia nanocomposite. High dispersion of zirconia was achieved at zirconia loadings below 8 wt%. Vickers hardness was optimized with a 1.5 wt% loading of zirconia. A low loading (1.5 wt%) of tetragonal zirconia was able to increase the bending strength of nanocrystalline HAP from 183 to 243 MPa. This HAP-zirconia nanocomposite was sintered to full density by 1000 degrees C under an applied load of 50 MPa. The average grain sizes of HAP and zirconia were maintained at <= 100 nm. With the high strength and low loading of secondary phase, these HAP-based nanocomposites should be attractive for orthopedic and dental implant applications.