Facile ligand substitution is observed when the ruthenium chloride complex [Ru(η(5)-C(9)H(7))Cl(dppe)] (dppe is diphenylphosphanyl ethane) is treated with NaN(3) in refluxing ethanol, yielding the title compound, [Ru(η(5)-C(9)H(7))(N(3))(dppe)] or [Ru(C(9)H(7))(N(3))(C(26)H(24)P(2))]. The Ru(II) atom has a typical piano-stool coordination. The Ru-P bond lengths are 2.284 (2) and 2.235 (2) Å. NMR and MS analyses are in agreement with the structure of the title compound.