Fibrolitic sillimanite in some high-grade gneisses from Broken Hill, Australia, shows microstructural features suggestive of compatibility with the main coarser-grained assemblage, namely: framework-silicate interfaces either meet (110)-sillimanite/framework-silicate interfaces at approximately 90° or are attached to the ends of ‘fibrolite’ rods; framework-silicate interfaces are deflected by ‘fibrolite’ grains; and interfaces of inclusions of one framework silicate in another are deflected by ‘fibrolite’ grains, producing irregular, rather than rounded, inclusion shapes. These criteria suggest that the ‘fibrolite’ in some rocks is a compatible member of the main metamorphic assemblage. Its persistence as small grains may be due to a high proportion of relatively low-energy prismatic boundaries in the fibrolitic aggregates.