Factors which contribute to magnetostructural transition control have been demonstrated by study of the effects of Au incorporation on the magnetic and structural character of CsCl-structured equiatomic FeRh thin films. Sputtered films were capped with 2 nm of Au deposited at 873K and at 323K and subsequently characterized with magnetometry and synchrotron-based structural probes. Diffusion of Au into the FeRh film layer at 873K is confirmed by a reduction in the Au capping layer thickness relative to the film capped at 323 K. The impact of Au diffusion on the FeRh magnetostructural character is noted by a decrease in the onset of the transition temperature, a thermally broadened first-order transition and an increased sensitivity of the transition to applied magnetic field. Additionally, magnetization data indicate that Au diffusion causes retention of the ferromagnetic phase well below the normal magnetostructural transition temperature. These results are attributed to a multiphase FeRh film layer created by thermally driven Au diffusion. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4747921]