Published studies on the association between methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1) G401A polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk have yielded conflicting results. In order to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between G401A polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk, the present meta-analysis was performed. All eligible studies on G401A polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk were collected from the PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Statistical analyses were performed by Review Manage 5.0 and Stata 11.0. Our analysis suggested that G401A polymorphism was not associated with ovarian cancer risk when using additive (odds ratio (OR) = 1.72, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.34–2.20, P < 0.0001), recessive (OR = 1.46, 95 % CI = 1.21–1.77, P < 0.0001), dominant (OR = 1.36, 95 % CI = 1.10–1.69, P = 0.004), and allelic models (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI = 1.15–1.47, P < 0.0001) to analyze the data. This meta-analysis suggests that G401A polymorphism might not be a risk factor for ovarian cancer risk. However, further well-designed studies are required to confirm our findings.