A woven‐fabric Hi‐Nicalon™‐fiber reinforced SiC‐matrix composite has been fabricated by using a multiple polymer infiltration‐pyrolysis (PIP) process. The three‐point bend strength, at room temperature, of the composite is examined as a function of total porosity of the composite. The porosity of the composite decreases as the number of PIP cycles (N) increases. Both the proportional‐limit load and the maximum load in the three‐point bend test increase as N increases. A compressive fracture mode is observed for N < 10 (total porosity of >10%), and a tensile fracture mode is observed for N greaterthan equal to 10 (total porosity of lessthan equal to10%). For the composite with N= 14, with a total porosity of 8 vol%, a proportional‐limit stress of 410 MPa and a maximum stress of 600 MPa are achieved.