The transient characteristics of short-circuit current (SCC) in doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) are quite different from the widely researched conventional synchronous machines. However, the second harmonic characteristics of SCC that impact the reliability of the transformer protection have not been accurately analysed. This paper presents the generation mechanism of second harmonic SCC in DFIG by deducing the dynamic response of rotor-side converter, with particular attention to the influences of the voltage drop, harmonic component of stator voltage, frequency coupling, and deviation of the phase-locked loop. When grid fault occurs, the terminal voltage sag leads to fluctuations in the active power, then the response of converter to power fluctuation and the frequency coupling leads to the second harmonic current in the abc reference frame. And the second harmonic current injected into the grid leads to fluctuations in the voltage disturbance term and deviation of the phase-locked loop, which, in turn, affects the second harmonic current. Based on the analysis, the mitigation measures for the second harmonic current are proposed. Simulations are implemented to verify the theoretical analysis.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.