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Corrosion of Mg–Y alloys was studied using electrochemical evaluations, immersion tests and direct observations. There were two important effects. In 0.1M NaCl, the corrosion rate increased with increasing Y content due to increasing amounts of the Y-containing intermetallic. In 0.1M Na₂SO₄, the corrosion rate decreased with increasing Y content above 3%, attributed to a more protective surface film, despite the intermetallic. The corrosion rate evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was somewhat smaller than that evaluated from H evolution as expected from the Mg corrosion mechanism. A mechanism is proposed for filiform corrosion. Direct in situ corrosion observations revealed that a predominant feature was hydrogen evolution from particular parts of the alloy surface.