BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms cannot be ignored when exercise intervention is performed. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between depressive symptoms and exercise capacity in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed 110 community-dwelling older adults (mean age [standard deviation] = 70.7 [4.0] years old; women: 55 %). Depressive symptoms were measured using a Japanese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. We evaluated exercise capacity by measuring distance (2MWD) during a 2-minute walk test. Linear regression models were applied to analyze the association between 2MWD and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The results suggest that depressive symptoms are associated with low 2MWD (beta = -5.87, 95 % confidence interval = -11.18 to -0.57, p <  0.05) even after adjusting for age, gender, Body Mass Index, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, pain severity, and the number of comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that depressive symptoms are associated with decreased exercise capacity in older adults.