Arbutin is a very safe whitening agent for human skin. Since it is more expensive than other agents and has a challenging synthesis, novel methods to obtain this valuable agent are needed. In this study, we developed a precise and accurate method to detect and quantify arbutin using stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). One challenge that needed to be overcome was the matrix effect occurring during the LC-MS analysis due to the analyte ionisation enhancement or suppression in the electrospray ionisation source by coeluting compounds. Notably, arbutin had different matrix effects in the various sample matrices. A solution to this problem was the use of [d 4 ]-arbutin as a stable isotopelabelled internal standard (SIL-IS), as it compensated the matrix effect of arbutin because it was affected by almost the same matrix effect. The validation of the developed method showed excellent linearity (r 2 = 1.000), precision (relative standard deviation B 2.5%), accuracy (recovery, 97.42-98.52%), limit of detection (0.03 lg/mL), and limit of quantification (0.1 lg/mL). Finally, the method of arbutin detection was applied to blueberry leaves to compare the precision and accuracy results obtained by performing stable isotope dilution using LC-MS and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The method was applied to strawberry leaves and pear peels, indicating that the SIL-IS method can be expected to find application in the arbutin analysis in other plants.