A powdery porous carrier comprising a porous silicon-containing carrier is impregnated with a solution containing an organic solvent and an active ingredient hardly soluble in water, and the organic solvent is removed to give a solid dispersion having the active ingredient supported to the porous carrier without a treatment with a supercritical fluid. The porous silicon-containing carrier has a heating loss of not more than 4% by weight at a temperature of 950° C. for 2 hours (e.g., a spherical silicon-containing carrier such as a spherical porous silica). The porous silicon-containing carrier may be a spherical silica having a mean pore size of 10 to 40 nm and an oil absorption of 175 to 500 ml/100 g. A pharmaceutical composition (e.g., tablets, granules, or capsules) may be prepared from the solid dispersion and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. This invention provides a solid dispersion and a pharmaceutical composition (or a pharmaceutical preparation) which allows improvement in a solubility and a bioavailability of an active ingredient hardly soluble in water (e.g., a fibrate compound).