Adiponectin (ADIPOQ) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and previous studies regarding the association between ADIPOQ polymorphisms and DN risk reported conflicting results. To derive a more precise estimation of this association, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the association between four ADIPOQ polymorphisms [-11391G > A (rs17300539), -11377C > G (rs266729), +45T > G (rs2241766), and +276G > T (rs1501299)] and risk for DN. Odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were pooled to assess the association between four aforementioned polymorphisms and susceptibility to DN. Based on the included criteria, we selected 13 articles, among which 7 studies (cases/controls: 2749/7585) for -11391G > A, 8 studies for -11377C > G (3074/3842), 9 studies for +45T > G (2654/7710), and 10 studies for +276G > T (2812/7821), respectively. Our meta-analysis indicated no evidence heterogeneity among the included studies; thus, the fixed-effects model was used. Overall, there was an association between ADIPOQ -11391A allele with increased DN risk (OR = 1.186, 95% CI: 1.051-1.338, p = 0.006). Subgroup by ethnicity suggested significant association between +45T > G polymorphism and DN risk among Caucasians (OR = 1.122, 95% CI: 1.007-1.250, p = 0.038). Sensitivity analysis suggested exclusion of any single study did not materially alter the overall pooled ORs above. Future studies are needed to validate these findings.