The extract of Salvia officinalis (S. officinalis) leaves has been evaluated as a corrosion inhibitor for 304 stainless steel in 1 M HCl solution by means of weight loss measurements, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Tafel polarization study revealed that extract of S. officinails acts as a mixed type inhibitor. Adsorption of the inhibitor on the steel surface followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Quantum chemical calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) and semi-empirical method (AM1) were performed to illustrate the process of adsorption of some specific components of the extract. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.