Purpose: This paper aims to enable the robot to obtain human-like compliant manipulation skills for the peg-in-hole (PiH) assembly task by learning from demonstration. Design/methodology/approach: A modified dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) model with a novel hybrid force/position feedback in Cartesian space for the robotic PiH problem is proposed by learning from demonstration. To ensure a compliant interaction during the PiH insertion process, a Cartesian impedance control approach is used to track the trajectory generated by the modified DMPs. Findings: The modified DMPs allow the robot to imitate the trajectory of demonstration efficiently and to generate a smoother trajectory. By taking advantage of force feedback, the robot shows compliant behavior and could adjust its pose actively to avoid a jam. This feedback mechanism significantly improves the dynamic performance of the interactive process. Both the simulation and the PiH experimental results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. Originality/value: The trajectory and the compliant manipulation skill of the human operator can be learned simultaneously by the new model. This method adopted a modified DMPs model in Cartesian space to generate a trajectory with a lower speed at the beginning of the motion, which can reduce the magnitude of the contact force.