The effect of machine stiffness on the residual strength of ground silicon nitride ceramics is investigated in this study. This paper presents an analytical model to predict the residual strength of ground ceramics in terms of machine stiffness and other parameters, as well as experimental results on ground silicon nitride to verify the model. In the grinding experiments, a compliant workholder is used on a precision grinding machine to obtain a machine loop stiffness ranging from 5 to 40 N/(m without changing other parameters. The workholder enables the grinding machine to emulate many machines of various stiffness. Diamond wheels of two grit sizes are used in the experiments. To further enhance the effect of machine stiffness, ELID is adopted to dress a CIFB diamond wheel. It turns out that the results obtained based on the analytical model are consistent with the experimental results.