A connecting rod includes an apertured connecting-rod eye portion defining two portions (arms), which is split into a saddle portion and a bearing cap portion by a fracture splitting operation along a desired dividing plane whose location is determined by formation of a separating notch on the connecting-rod eye portion which extends parallel to the desired dividing plane. In each of the arm portions, through screw-holes are provided for attaching the bearing cap to the bearing saddle. During the splitting operation, the fracture separation is initiated at the separation notch and progresses in two paths around the screw-hole. To inhibit misalignment of the two fracture paths as they come together, a hole is formed in the plane of the desired dividing plane and extending from the through-hole to a wall of the connecting-rod eye remote from the separating notch.