Abstract Hot corrosion is the accelerated attack of materials at elevated temperatures that is induced by a thin film of fused salt. Many materials that experience hot corrosion are exposed to high heat fluxes and temperature gradients. The hot corrosion of metals can be described by the dissolution of a protective metal oxide into the fused salt and the subsequent precipitation of the metal oxide in a non-protective form. Rapp and Goto have established a criterion for the sustained hot corrosion of a pure metal that the solubility gradient of the protective oxide in the salt film must be negative at the oxide/salt interface. The influence of a temperature gradient on the metal oxide solubility gradient (and the predicted hot corrosion susceptibility) is discussed. Solubility data for NiO in Na2SO4 are used to illustrate the effects of a temperature gradient. The effects of a temperature gradient were determined by examining various combinations of dissolution reactions, oxidants, and transport kinetics. Based on these results, and the thinness of the molten salt films, temperature gradients are not expected to be of importance to hot corrosion fluxing mechanisms.