Let (R, m, k) be a d-dimensional Noetherian reduced local ring of prime characteristic p such that R 1/p e are finite over R for all e ∈ N (i.e. R is F -finite). Consider the sequence {a e /q α(R)+d } ∞ e=0 , in which α(R) = log p [k : k p ], q = p e , and a e is the maximal rank of free R-modules appearing as direct summands of R-module R 1/q . Denote by s − (R) and s + (R) the liminf and limsup, respectively, of the above sequence as e → ∞. If s − (R) = s + (R), then the limit, denoted by s(R), is called the F -signature of R. It turns out that the F -signature can be defined in a way that is independent of the module finite property of R 1/q over R. We show that: (1) If s + (R) 1 − 1/(d!p d ), then R is regular; (2) If R is excellent such that R P is Gorenstein for every P ∈ Spec(R) \ {m}, then s(R) exists;(3) If (R, m) → (S, n) is a local flat ring homomorphism, then s ± (R) s ± (S) and, if furthermore S/mS is Gorenstein, s ± (S) s ± (R)s(S/mS).