A durable protective coating may be formed by applying a thin layer of metastable alumina to a bond coating on a substrate. A thermal barrier coating may then be applied to the metastable alumina and the resulting part may be heat treated to transform the metastable alumina to a mixed alpha alumina having particles of the thermal barrier coating, such as zirconia in the case of an yttria stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coating, dispersed therein. The resulting thermal barrier coating may inhibit microbuckling of the thermally grown oxide scale that grows over time at the thermal barrier coating-bond coating interface.