Low sulfur gasoline of relatively high octane number is produced from a catalytically cracked, sulfur-containing naphtha by hydrodesulfurization and treatment over an acidic catalyst, preferably an intermediate pore size zeolite such as ZSM-5 in an octane restoration step, followed by separation of a C.sub.9 -containing fraction, and recycling the C.sub.9 -containing fraction to the octane restoration step. A hydrocarbon fraction comprising C.sub.1 to C.sub.3 hydrocarbons may also be separated from the octane restored product and recycled for purposes of alkylating aromatic hydrocarbons and for this purpose, it may be advantageous to introduce a benzene-rich feed, such as a reformate, to the process. The treatment over the acidic catalyst in the octane restoration step restores the octane loss which takes place as a result of the hydrogenative treatment and results in a low sulfur gasoline product with an octane number comparable to that of the feed naphtha.