An amount of 20 mol% (Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-2 was replaced into the octahedral sites of Pb(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O-3 (PZTa)-PbTiO3 (PT) and resultant changes in the perovskite stabilization and dielectric properties were examined. Perovskite formation at the Pb(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O-3-rich compositions (where the pyrochlore phase is prone to develop) turned out to improve substantially by the compositional modification. Tetragonality factors increased continuously with increasing fractions of PbTiO3. Maximum dielectric constant values were much higher than those without the (Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-2 substitution. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.