A robust tracking control is proposed for the fractional-order systems (FOSs) to achieve a tracking response with no overshoot, even in the presence of a class of disturbances. The control proposed makes use of a newly designed integral sliding mode technique for FOSs, which is capable of rejecting the bounded disturbances acting through the input channel. The proposed integral sliding mode control design has two components: a nominal control component and a discontinuous control component. The overshoot in the system response is avoided by the nominal control designed with the use of Moore's eigenstructure assignment algorithm. The sliding mode technique is used for the design of discontinuous part of the control that imparts the desired robustness properties. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.