Sleep quality (SQ) impacts health yet many university students get poor sleep. Self-compassion (SC)—care for oneself during challenging times—is associated with SQ yet how SC has these effects is unclear. This study cross-sectionally examined whether SC is negatively related to poor SQ and whether proactive health focus and cognitive emotional regulation strategies (CERS) mediate this relationship. University students ( N = 193) self-reported SC, proactive health focus, CERS, and SQ. SC negatively associated with poor SQ ( r = −0.34) and self-blame mediated this ( b = 0.08, 95% CI [0.01, 0.16]). SC may improve SQ through reducing self-blame.