In this paper, an adaptive controller is investigated for a class of uncertain single-input-single-output nonlinear systems preceded by an unknown backlash-type hysteresis nonlinearity, which is modeled by a differential equation. Backstepping design procedure is employed to construct the control input and adaptation laws. A new algorithm is designed to reduce the computational burden compared with previous work for unknown backlash-type hysteresis. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, all the signals in the closed-loop system are bounded, and the system output can track the reference signal to a bounded compact set. An example for hard disk drives with hysteresis friction nonlinearity is given to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.