An amorphous Sm₅Fe₁₇ melt-spun ribbon was annealed under various conditions to obtain the metastable Sm₅Fe₁₇ phase. The Sm₅Fe₁₇ phase could be obtained by annealing at temperatures between 873 K and 973 K for 0.1–1 h. However, the annealed specimens contained other phases such as the SmFe₂ and SmFe₃ phases depending on the annealing conditions. It was found that the specimen annealed at 873 K for 1 h consisted mostly of the Sm₅Fe₁₇ phase. The Sm₅Fe₁₇ phase could also be obtained by annealing the amorphous Sm₅Fe₁₇ melt-spun ribbon at 1073 K for 0.1 h or 0.3 h, but annealing at that temperature for 1 h resulted in decomposition of the metastable Sm₅Fe₁₇ phase and formed the equilibrium Sm₂Fe₁₇ and SmFe₃ phases.