Purpose: This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationships among principal instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher commitment using multilevel analysis. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed quantitative cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from 1,328 teachers selected from 71 Malaysian primary schools. Findings: The direct relationship between instructional leadership and teacher commitment was significant at the school level. Similarly, instructional leadership exhibits a significant direct effect on collective teacher efficacy. Collective teacher efficacy also has a significant direct effect on teacher commitment. The results also indicate a significant indirect effect at school level between instructional leadership and teacher commitment through collective teacher efficacy. Research limitations/implications: The multilevel analysis among instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher commitment warrant further investigations with larger sample sizes at both group and individual levels. Originality/value: This study supplements previous findings by contributing more rigorous empirical evidence using multilevel analysis. The findings extend current knowledge in the principal instructional leadership literature in the context of a Southeast Asian country.