The invention relates to posttranslational modification of phage-displayed polypeptides. These displayed polypeptides comprise at least one unnatural amino acid, e.g., an aryl-azide amino acid such as p-azido-L-phenylalanine, or an alkynyl-amino acid such as para-propargyloxyphenylalanine, which are incorporated into the phage-displayed fusion polypeptide at a selected position by using an in vivo orthogonal translation system comprising a suitable orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and a suitable orthogonal tRNA species. These unnatural amino acids advantageously provide targets for posttranslational modifications such as azide-alkyne [3+2]cycloaddition reactions and Staudinger modifications.