Analytical models are derived for stabilization of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability of an ablatively accelerated slab. The procedure is to conserve mass, momentum, and energy flux across a perturbed interface through which plasma flows. In various regimes, the stabilization mechanism can be described as vortex shedding, compressibility, thermal conduction, and ablation. Comparisons are made with recent fluid simulations, and simple laws relevant to laser‐driven ablative acceleration are derived.