This paper treats about the flow and heat transfer of a viscous incompressible fluid in a porous medium over a permeable stretching surface taking into account thermal radiation and the variation of the thermal conductivity with temperature. Analytical solutions for the stream function are obtained and two cases are studied, namely, (i) prescribed surface temperature (PST case) and (ii) prescribed heat flux (PHF case). The effects of Prandtl number, permeability, suction/blowing, variable thermal conductivity, thermal radiation and surface temperature parameters on heat-transfer characteristics are shown through tables and graphs and discussed. (c) 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering