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<jats:p>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a severe lung disease characterized by long‐term breathing problems. A series of studies have indicated that the glutathione S‐transferase genes M1 and T1 are associated with COPD susceptibility; however, the result still remains inconclusive. This meta‐analysis was performed to estimate the effect of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms in COPD risk. Eligible case‐control studies published between January 2000 and December 2017 was searched and retrieved. A total of 37 articles were screened out, including 4674 COPD patients and 5006 controls. Overall, our results found that GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes significantly increased the risk of COPD (GSTM1: odds ratio [OR] = 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.31‐1.77, <jats:italic>P &lt;</jats:italic>.00001; GSTT1: OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.09‐1.50, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .003). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested that there was a close association between GSTM1 null polymorphism and COPD susceptibility in each studied ethnicity, while GSTT1 null polymorphism only showed association with Asian COPD patients. Moreover, we also found that joint GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes showed a high association with increased COPD susceptibility (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.21‐1.66, <jats:italic>P &lt;</jats:italic> .0001). In conclusion, our results indicated that GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null, and the combined GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes might be risk factors in the development of COPD. However, future case‐control studies with large‐scale participants are still required to further estimate these associations.</jats:p>