Purpose There is still controversy about the association between admission blood glucose concentration and outcome of acute stroke. We studied the association between admission blood glucose and in-hospital death / dependency among acute stroke patients in Inner Mongolia, China. Methods 2,178 acute ischemic and 1,760 hemorrhagic stroke patients in six hospitals were included in the study. Blood glucose and other study variables were collected within the first 24-hr of hospital admission. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by neurologists during hospitalization. The associations between admission blood glucose and the risk of in-hospital death/dependency were analyzed using a multiple logistic model. Results There were associations between admission blood glucose and in-hospital death/dependency among patients with acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Compared with patients with blood glucose < 6.1mmol/L, multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of death/dependency were 0.53 (0.23, 1.27), 2.22 (1.21, 4.11), 1.92 (1.12, 3.33) and 1.91 (1.00, 3.64) for ischemic stroke patients, and 0.93 (0.44, 1.96), 1.42 (0.65, 3.10), 1.98 (1.10, 3.55) and 2.93 (1.40, 6.11) for hemorrhagic stroke patients, with blood glucose 6.1-6.9, 7.0-7.7, 7.8-11.0 and ?11.1mmol/L, respectively. Conclusion Increased admission blood glucose was associated with death/dependency among patients with acute hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.