Background: This study was to research the efficacy of fenofibrate in the treatment of microalbuminuria in the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertriglyceridemia. Methods: Type 2 diabetic patients (56) with microalbuminuria and hypertriglyceridemia aged 30 to 75 were randomly divided into the fenofibrate treatment group(n = 28) and the control group (n = 28) for 180 days. Urinary microalbumin /creatinine ratio (UACR) and other metabolic parameters were compared at baseline, during treatment and after treatment. Results: After 180 days, the reduction of level of fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) between two groups showed no difference. In the treatment group, uric acid (UA) (296.42 ± 56.41 vs 372.46 ± 72.78), triglyceride (TG) [1.51(1.17, 2.06) vs 3.04(2.21, 3.29)], and UACR [36.45 (15.78,102.41) vs 129.00 (53.00, 226.25)] were significantly decreased compared with the baseline. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were significantly increased (1.22 ± 0.26 vs 1.09 ± 0.24) compared with the baseline. The decrease in UACR [− 44.05(− 179.47, − 12.16) vs − 8.15(− 59.69, 41.94)]in treatment group was significantly higher compared with the control group. The decrease in UACR was positively associated with the decreases in TG (r = 0.447, P = 0.042) and UA (r = 0.478, P = 0.024) after fenofibrate treatment. Conclusion: In the patients with hypertriglyceridemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus, fenofibrate can improve microalbuminuria and do not increase the deterioration of glomerular filtration rate.