For permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) supplied with a voltage source inverter, current control strategies are commonly implemented under the synchronously rotating reference frame. In order to simplify the system structure, three-phase currents can be measured with a single DC-link current sensor using the phase current reconstruction technique. However, it still needs to follow the conventional AC current control approach. In this paper, a DC-link current control method for PMSMs is proposed to further simplify the control system. The problem of phase current control was separated into the problems of amplitude control and phase control. Then, amplitude control was achieved using a closed-loop controller directly tracking the DC-link current; while phase control was achieved by AC-side pulse width modulation (PWM) following the phase angle of back electromotive force. The compensation for nonlinear distortion of the inverter was taken into account during the control process. Finally, the proposed method realized three-phase current control with a single current sensor and controller, and achieved the purpose of electromagnetic torque control. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.