Objective To investigate the clinical value of plasma haptoglobin (Hp) level as a prognostic marker for patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 100 patients with acute cerebral infarction who were treated in our hospital from January 2013 to December 2014 were enrolled as case group, and 100 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination were enrolled as control group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the Kaplan-Meier method were used to evaluate the value of plasma Hp in predicting the prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction. Results Compared with the control group, the case group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with smoking, diabetes, hypertension or angina pectoris and a significantly higher plasma Hp level (P<0.05). Plasma Hp had a cut-off value of 275.25 μg/L in predicting 3-year death in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Compared with the plasma Hp<275.25 μg/L group, the plasma Hp ≥ 275.25 μg/L group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with hypertension, myocardial infarction, or Hp2-1 (P<0.05), a significantly lower proportion of patients with Hp1-1 (P<0.05), and significantly higher plasma Hp level and 3-year overall mortality rate (P<0.05). Conclusions Patients with a higher plasma Hp level tend to have a relatively high 3-year overall mortality rate, and plasma Hp level can be used as an important biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction.