The de facto standard treatment for early gastric stump cancer (GSC) has been total gastrectomy combined with radical lymph node dissection. However, some patients could benefit if partial resection of the gastric stump is feasible. We investigated the feasibility of subtotal gastrectomy for early GSC as less invasive surgery. Subtotal gastrectomy was defined as a segmental resection of the gastric remnant including the anastomosis with limited lymph node dissection. A total of 66 patients with early GSC were enrolled and 24 patients (36.4 %) underwent subtotal gastrectomy (SG group). Clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed along with those of the other 42 patients (63.6 %) who underwent total gastrectomy (TG group). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the number of lymph nodes harvested (p = 0.880). Lymph node involvement was detected in 2 patients (8.3 %) in SG group and 5 patients (11.9 %) in TG group (p = 1.000). The previous disease (benign or malignant) and surgery (Billroth I or II) did not affect the rate of nodal involvement. The 5-year overall survival rate of SG group (94.7 %) was acceptable. Subtotal gastrectomy of the gastric remnant could be a feasible treatment option for patients with early gastric stump cancer when indicated.