In this paper, an output-feedback adaptive control is presented for linear time-invariant multivariable plants. By using the dynamic surface control technique, it is shown that the explosion of complexity problem in multivariable backstepping design can be eliminated. The proposed scheme has the following features: (1) The L-infinity performance of the system's tracking error can be guaranteed, (2) it has least number of updated parameters in comparison with other multivariable adaptive schemes, and (3) the adaptive law is necessary only at the first design step, which significantly reduces the design procedure. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.