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Background Vitiligo is a pigmentary skin disorder characterized by a chronic and progressive loss of melanocytes. Although the aetiology of vitiligo is currently unknown, several theories have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of this disease, including autoimmune, neural, self-destruction, oxidative stress, and genetic theories. Thioredoxin domain containing 5 (TXNDC5) is a newly identified member of the thioredoxin family. TXNDC5 has a protein disulphide isomerase-like domain which plays an important role in protein folding and chaperone activity, against endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induced by oxidative stress within the ER. Objectives To determine whether variation in the TXNDC5 gene contributes to the risk of developing nonsegmental vitiligo (NSV) in the Korean population. Methods We conducted a case–control association study of 230 patients with NSV and 417 matched, unaffected controls. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TXNDC5 gene were selected for study. Results Of the selected SNPs, three exonic SNPs (rs1043784, rs7764128 and rs8643) were statistically associated with NSV. Among them, rs1043784 remained a statistically significant association following Bonferroni correction. These three SNPs were located within a block of linkage disequilibrium; the haplotypes AGG and GAA, consisting of rs1043784, rs7764128 and rs8643, demonstrated a significant association with NSV. Conclusions These results suggest that TXNDC5 gene polymorphisms are associated with the development of NSV in the Korean population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]