Objective To explore the correlation between interleukin-6 (IL-6) 174G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke risks. Methods Systematic searches of electronic databases as CBM, CNKI, PubMed, MEDLINE and EMbase were performed. Meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.1.2 and Stata 11.0 software. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were performed. Publication bias was tested by funnel plot, Egger’s regression test and Begg’s test. Sensitivity analysis was made by repeating the fixed effects model or random effects model Meta-analysis with each of the studies individually removed. Results A total of 11 publications with 12 studies were identified. The results of meta-analyses showed no significant difference was found in the correlation between IL-6 174G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke risks (for G/C vs. G/G: OR=0.98, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.24; for C/C vs. G/G: OR=0.75, 95%CI 0.38 to 1.50; for dominant inheritance model: OR=0.93, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.28; for recessive inheritance model: OR=0.80, 95%CI 0.45 to 1.42). In the subgroup analyses on ethnicity, no significant correlation was found. But in the subgroup analyses on source of control population, the hospital-based subgroup showed IL-6 174G/C polymorphism was the protective factor of ischemic stroke (for G/C vs. G/G: OR=0.56, 95%CI 0.40 to 0.79; for C/C vs. G/G: OR=0.17, 95%CI 0.11 to 0.27; for dominant inheritance model: OR=0.40, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.55; for recessive inheritance model: OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.37). Conclusion Meta-analysis bly suggests that the correlation between IL-6 174 G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke is not significantly different.