Glucokinase (GK) is involved in the control of blood glucose homeostasis. In the present study, the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on the immunoreactivities of GK and its regulatory protein (GKRP) following 5 min of transient cerebral ischemia was investigated in gerbils. The gerbils were randomly assigned to four groups (sham‑operated group, ischemia‑operated group, IPC + sham‑operated group and IPC + ischemia‑operated group). IPC was induced by subjecting the gerbils to 2 min of ischemia, followed by 1 day of recovery. In the ischemia‑operated group, a significant loss of neurons was observed in the stratum pyramidale (SP) of the hippocampal CA1 region (CA1) at 5 days post‑ischemia; however, in the IPC+ischemia‑operated group, the neurons in the SP were well protected. Following immunohistochemical investigation, the immunoreactivities of GK and GKRP in the neurons of the SP were markedly decreased in the CA1, but not the CA2/3, from 2 days post‑ischemia, and were almost undetectable in the SP 5 days post‑ischemia. In the IPC + ischemia‑operated group, the immunoreactivities of GK and GKRP in the SP of the CA1 were similar to those in the sham‑group. In brief, the findings of the present study demonstrated that IPC notably maintained the immunoreactivities of GK and GKRP in the neurons of the SP of CA1 following ischemia‑reperfusion. This indicated that GK and GKRP may be necessary for neuron survival against transient cerebral ischemia.