In the present study, 98.8 mm of bentazon was applied to 3‐leaf stage rice seedlings. Two tolerant lines, M202 and cv. TNG67, showed slightly visible injury, photosystem II inhibition, as well as a low level of lipid peroxidation 7 days after application compared with the susceptible lines. Further physiological study of the mechanism of differential tolerance among Japonica and Indica types indicated that, although the tolerant Japonica lines M202 and cv. TNG67 absorbed more 14C‐bentazon, most of the 14C remained in the treated leaf or translocated to older leaves. However, two susceptible lines, FSK (Japonica) and IR36 (Indica), absorbed less 14C‐bentazon throughout the experiment, and most of the 14C was translocated from the treated leaves to younger leaves, which might result in the death of developing tissues. In addition, more bentazon residue and less polar metabolites were detected in these two susceptible lines. It is proposed that the higher tolerance of lines M202 and TNG67 to bentazon could be mainly due to a higher rate of metabolism of this herbicide, and partially due to less translocation to developing tissues.