Low‐power rectifier diodes were stressed by different forward currents IF, reverse voltages UR, and ambient temperatures a for a time interval (0, t*) in order to analyse the resulting distributions. Owing to the limitations in the test time, t*, the gathering of comprehensive information about their performance requires high stress levels without exceeding either physical limits or the limits for initiating thermal runaway. First, the results of lifetime experiments related to the middle stress region were described by a Weibull distribution with constant shape parameter and stress‐dependent scale parameter. This model, however, did not fit sufficiently the typical features of the real‐life distribution. Therefore a non‐parametric measure called the average initial reliability in (O,t*) was defined using the experimental results. Its stress dependence was estimated. The results are guiding figures of stress conditions both for accelerated tests and for circuits with high demands on reliability.