The isothermal oxidation behaviors of the as-deposited NiAl coating on the nickel-based superalloy by electron beam physical vapour deposition(EB-PVD) and the NiAl coating after surface modifications of grinding and polishing were investigated. The as-deposited coating shows the least mass gain, the initially formed θ-Al2O3 scale spalls after only 1 h, and the succeeding scale formed is coarse and discontinuous and thus can not be used as protective coatings. Among the two surface-modified coatings, the ground coating results in the highest oxide growth rate, which is consistent with the SEM results where the scale spalls heavily and many voids appear between the scale and the NiAl coating. The scale spallation and void formation mechanisms during isothermal oxidation test of EB-PVD NiAl coating were also discussed.