The effect of using thin plies to increase the bearing strength of composite laminates has been investigated. A series of 5 laminates of theoretically identical stiffness with varying proportions of thin plies were manufactured using a single material system. Four specimens from each plate were tested for bearing strength and damage was subsequently characterized using an optical microscope. The results show that performance in terms of bearing stiffness, strength at onset of damage, and ultimate bearing stress increase proportionally with the increasing amount of thin plies within the stack. Shifting from a 100% conventional ply laminate to a 100% thin-ply laminate gave an increase of 47% in the strength at onset of damage. Placement of the thin plies within the stack was also shown to be important for strength at initial onset of damage. Microscopic examination of the failure modes for all samples showed fiber kinking, localized to the center of the hole, to be the dominant failure mode regardless of the stacking sequence. © 2020 The Authors