A nonlinear relaxation process is considered for a macroscopic thermodynamic quantity, generalizing recent work by Taniguchi and Cohen [J. Stat. Phys. 126, 1 (2006)] that was based on the Onsager-Machlup theory. It is found that the fluctuation theorem holds in the nonlinear nonequilibrium regime if the change of entropy characterized by local equilibria is appropriately renormalized. The fluctuation theorem for the ordinary entropy change is recovered in the linear near-equilibrium case.