The title compound, C(14)H(19)NO(3), was prepared via the intra-molecular rearrangement of 3-(butanoyl-amino)-phenyl butano-ate in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride. The near coplanarity of the aromatic ring, the amide group and the carbonyl group of the butanoyl fragment [N-C-C-C = -179.65 (17) and O-C-C-C = -178.34 (17)°] results from the intra-molecular O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In the crystal, the mol-ecules form a one-dimensional polymeric structure via N-H⋯O inter-actions between their amide groups.