Semicollisional drift‐tearing modes are studied analytically in toroidal plasmas. Corresponding differential equations for the eigenmodes are derived via the ballooning mode representation and flux‐surface averaging. A dispersion relation is then obtained using asymptotic matching. It is found that the stabilizing effects of good average curvature and finite plasma compression lead to a tearing instability threshold &Dgr;c, which is independent of the resistivity.