Herein is reported a method for purifying a polypeptide comprising a histidine-tag comprising the steps of i) applying a solution comprising the polypeptide with a histidine-tag to a hydrophobic interaction chromatography material, and ii) recovering the polypeptide comprising a histidine-tag with a solution comprising imidazole or an imidazole-derivative and thereby purifying the polypeptide comprising a histidine-tag, wherein the solution comprising the polypeptide applied to the hydrophobic interaction chromatography material is free of imidazole or an imidazole-derivative and the polypeptide adsorbed to the hydrophobic interaction chromatography material is recovered with a solution comprising imidazole or an imidazole-derivative.