The aim of this study was to compare 1% citric acid and 1% bicarbonate solutions as extracts for the determination of phosphorus in sandy arid‐zone soils, using 64 samples from the Kalahari dunefield. For 56 of these samples, measured phosphorus concentrations were <8 ppm in both extracts, and for these 56 samples the acid‐extractable and bicarbonate‐extractable phosphorus concentrations were statistically equivalent. For the remaining 8 samples, with phosphorus concentrations >8 ppm in at least one of the extracts, phosphorus concentrations in citric acid extracts were consistently greater than those in bicarbonate extracts.