AIMS: Eradication of Helicobacter pylori (HP) is an effective approach to improve intestinal symptoms and prevent gastric cancer. However, there has been concern that the presence of diabetes reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics. We performed this meta-analysis to investigate the effect of diabetes on the risk of failing eradication in patients with diabetes. METHODS: An electronic literature search was conducted using Biosis, MEDLINE, Embase, PASCAL, and SciSearch through November 30, 2012. Selected studies had to provide data on the number of individuals who received treatment for HP infection and on the failure of HP eradication in groups with and without diabetes. Two authors independently extracted relevant data. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 8 eligible studies (693 total participants including 273 participants with diabetes). Overall, the pooled risk ratio (RR) of failing HP eradication for diabetic patients compared with non-diabetic participants was 2.19 [95%CI, 1.65-2.90] (P<0.001). Excluding the 2 studies that used a non-standard protocol for HP eradication, individuals with diabetes had a higher risk of failure of eradication compared to those without diabetes (RR=2.31 [95%CI, 1.72-3.11]). CONCLUSIONS: Current meta-analysis confirmed the higher risk of HP eradication failure in individuals with diabetes compared with those without diabetes, suggesting the necessity of prolonging treatment or developing a new regimen for HP eradication in patients with diabetes.