Surfactant adsorption onto solid surfaces is a major issue during surfactant flooding in enhanced oil recovery applications; it decreases the effectiveness of the chemical injection making the process uneconomical. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the adsorption of surfactant onto solid surfaces could be inhibited using a surfactant delivery system based on the complexation between the hydrophobic tail of anionic surfactants and b-cyclodextrin (b-CD). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to confirm the complexation of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/b-CD. Surface tension analysis was used to establish the stoichiometry of the complexation and the binding constant (K a ). Static adsorption testing was applied to determine the adsorption of surfactant onto different solids (sandstone, shale, and kaolinite). The release of the surfactant from the b-CD cavity was qualitatively evaluated through bottle testing. The formation of the inclusion complex SDS/b-CD with a 1:1 stoichiometry was confirmed. The K a of the complexations increases as salinity and hardness concentration increases. The encapsulation of the surfactant into the b-CD cavity decreases the adsorption of surfactant onto solid surfaces up to 79 %. Qualitative observations indicate that in the presence of solid adsorbents partially saturated with crude oil, the b-CD cavity releases surfactant molecules, which migrate towards the oil-water interface.