There are provided a method and apparatus of component mounting capable of avoiding damage caused by production operations with a component holder having debris thereon. If it is determined during a detecting step of a component holding condition that a component is held by a component holder in an improper condition for mounting, the component holder releases such a component into a collecting box, and skips a pick up operation at a next round of a pick up station. The component holder is then subjected to confirming whether any debris exists by using, preferably, a condition sensor, and the component holder picks up a new component if it is confirmed that no debris exists. If debris is found during the confirming step, production operations are stopped, or a warning is generated. After maintenance of the component holder is completed, production operations are restarted.