4-oxo-penta-noic acid), C5H8O3, is close to planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0762 Å). In the crystal, the mol-ecules inter-act via O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds in which the hy-droxy O atoms act as donors and the ketone O atoms in adjacent mol-ecules as acceptors, forming C(7) chains along [20-1].