The hole drilling method is widely used in measuring residual stress in surfaces. In this method, the inclination of holes is one of the sources of error. This paper presents a finite element analysis of the influence of inclined holes on the uniaxial residual stress field. The error in stress has been found to increase proportionally to the correct inclined angle of the hole. The correction equations by which one may easily obtain the residual stress, taking account of the inclined angle and direction, have been derived. The error of stress due to the inclined hole has been reduced to around 1% using the correction equations.