Background Periprosthetic joint infection is a grievous complication after arthroplasty that greatly affects the quality of life of patients. Rapid establishment of infection diagnosis is essential, but great challenges still exist. Methods We conducted research in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of D-lactate for PJI. Data extraction and quality assessment were completed independently by two reviewers. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), summarized receiver operating characteristic curve (sROC), and area under the sROC curve (AUC) were constructed using the bivariate meta-analysis framework. Results Five eligible studies were included in the quantitative analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of D-lactate for the diagnosis of PJI were 0.82 (95% CI 0.70-0.89) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.69-0.82), respectively. The value of the pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of D-lactate for PJI was 14.18 (95% CI 6.17-32.58), and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.84 (95% CI 0.80-0.87). Conclusions According to the results of our meta-analysis, D-lactate is a valuable synovial fluid marker for recognizing PJI, with high sensitivity and specificity.