A new thermostable β-1,4-mannanase (DtManB) cloned from Dictyoglomus thermophilum CGMCC 7283 showed the maximum activity towards hydroxypropyl guar gum at 80 °C, with a half-life of 46 h. DtManB exhibited good compatibility with various additives of fracturing fluid, retaining more than 50 % activity in all the cases tested. More importantly, premature degradation could be alleviated significantly when using DtManB as breaker, because at 27 and 50 °C it displayed merely 3.7 and 18.5 % activities compared to those at 80 °C. In a static test, 0.48 mg DtManB could break 200 mL borax cross-linked fracturing fluid dramatically at 80 °C, and merely 18 mPa s of the viscosity was detected even after the broken fluid was cooled down and only 161.4 mg L(-1) of the residue was left after the enzymatic reaction. All these positive features demonstrate the great potential of this mannanase as a new enzyme breaker for application in enhanced recovery of petroleum oil.