Climate changes have a significant influence on rainfall quantity, on the loss of soil humidity and consequently loss of water in olive fruit. The loss of fruit moisture could result in dry olive paste during oil production, which makes extraction of olive oil difficult and could lead to lower oil yield. Addition of water during the malaxation process is suggested to overcome this problem, but this could cause a reduction of the phenolic compounds in obtained oil. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of a small amount of water (5% w/w) in 'Leccino' cv. olive paste during malaxation on the oil yield, extractability index and oil phenolic profile. The intention was to investigate whether it was possible to achieve the benefit of improved oil extractability and at the same time preserve the major proportion of valuable phenolic compounds. The addition of 5% of water to the olive paste during malaxation had no influence on oil yield and extractability index. On the other hand, water addition caused an increase in the concentration of total secoiridoids and total flavonoids, while total simple phenolic compounds decreased. The obtained results pointed out that even if a small amount of water addition during malaxation had no significant influence on oil yield and extractability index, the resulting changes in oil phenolic profile indicated the possibility of a positive influence on its oxidative stability, and consequently extension of its shelf life.