Objective To systematically evaluate the value of leukoaraiosis in predicting the risk of stroke recurrence.Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, VIP, CBM, and CNKI were searched for the studies on the association between leukoaraiosis and stroke recurrence published up to March 15, 2019. Related data were extracted for quality assessment and meta-analysis, and Begg's funnel plots and the Egger's test were used to evaluate publication bias.Results A total of 33 studies with 34 444 subjects were included. The meta-analysis showed that when the outcome measure was any type of recurrent stroke, there was a significant difference in the risk of recurrence between the moderate/severe group and the mild/no group (risk ratio[RR]=1.71, 95% confidence interval[CI]:1.44-2.04), with an I² value of 55.69%, and there was also a significant difference in such risk between the leukoaraiosis group and the non-leukoaraiosis group (RR=1.79, 95%CI:1.43-2.25), with an I² value of 56.26%; the risk of recurrence was observed in the continuity analysis group (RR=1.81, 95%CI:1.47-2.23), with an I² value of 34.63%. When the outcome measure was ischemic stroke, there was a significant difference in the risk of recurrence between the moderate/severe group and the mild/no group (RR=1.82, 95%CI:1.36-2.42), with an I² value of 48.43%, and there was also a significant difference in such risk between the leukoaraiosis group and the non-leukoaraiosis group (RR=2.13, 95%CI:1.37-3.32), with an I² value of 70.64%; the risk of recurrence was observed in the continuity analysis group (RR=2.01, 95%CI:1.13-3.58), with an I² value of 69.78%. The subgroup analysis showed that leukoaraiosis had a higher predictive value for long-term recurrent stroke. The Begg's funnel plots and the Egger's test showed that when the outcome measure was any type of recurrent stroke, the moderate/severe group had significantly greater publication bias than the mild/no group and the non-leukoaraiosis group, and correlation was still observed after correction by the "trim and fill" method.Conclusions Leukoaraiosis has a certain value in predicting recurrent stroke.