We compare the effectiveness of two types of SiC‐coated graphite susceptors in providing degradation‐free rapid thermal annealing of InP and GaAs. The first type of susceptor must be charged with the group‐V species prior to any annealing cycles. Under the optimum charging conditions, effective surface protection is provided for up to five sequential high‐temperature (900 °C, 10 s) anneals of GaAs, or only one anneal (750 °C, 10 s) of InP before recharging is necessary. The incorporation of small reservoirs into the susceptor allows for the provision of a constant group‐V partial pressure over the wafer, and it appears that for this type of susceptor many dozens of InP or GaAs wafers can be annealed without any apparent surface degradation. The relative merits of using InAs, GaAs, or InP as the group‐V source in the reservoirs have been compared, and it is found that the best protection is achieved when one uses the same semiconductor in the reservoirs as is being annealed.