Increased levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species play an important role in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The overproduction of these highly reactive chemical species leads to DNA damage and subsequent activation of the poly(ADP‐ribose)polymerase (PARP) enzyme. Several studies have demonstrated the potential use of PARP inhibitors for neuroprotection. We previously reported that the dual Src/Abl kinase inhibitor bosutinib (BOS) decreases PARP activity and acts as a chemosensitizer in cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the neuroprotective potential of BOS with respect to its inhibitory effect on cellular poly(ADP‐ribos)ylation (PARylation) using a 3‐morpholinosydnonimine (SIN1)‐mediated cellular toxicity model. Our data suggest that pretreatment with BOS, especially at lower doses, significantly decreased the level of SIN1‐induced cellular PARylation. This regulation pattern of PARylation was found to be associated with the protective effect of BOS against SIN1 on the viability of retinoic acid‐differentiated SH‐SY5Y cells. Furthermore, while PARP‐1 expression was decreased, phosphorylation of SAPK/JNK was not reverted at the observed neuroprotective doses of BOS. In conclusion, we suggest a novel mechanism for the neuroprotective effect of BOS involving the inhibition of cellular PARylation.