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Abstract Background Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the major causes of irreversible blindness. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is any relationship between dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (F&V) and antioxidant nutrients including carotenoids and AMD according to smoking status in elderly men. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis using nationally representative samples of elderly aged ≥ 65 years (n = 1414) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2010–2012). Results The current smokers consumed less food in total, and, in particular, less cereals/potatoes/sugar products, fruits and vegetables than the nonsmokers and former smokers (p < 0.05). Intake of energy, thiamin, vitamin C, vitamin A, and β-carotene were significantly lower in the current smokers than in the nonsmokers and the former smokers. For current smokers, the ORs of the highest tertile compared with the lowest tertile were 0.36 (95% CI: 0.14–0.96, p for trend = 0.0576) for F&V, 0.32 (95% CI: 0.12–0.85, p for trend = 0.0561) for vitamin C, 0.23 (95% CI: 0.08–0.67, p for trend = 0.0038) for α-carotene, 0.13 (95% CI: 0.04–0.46, p for trend = 0.0003) for β-carotene after adjusting for confounding factors. In contrast, there was no association between antioxidant nutrient intake and AMD among the nonsmokers and former smokers. Conclusions These results suggest that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables containing antioxidant components such as vitamin C, α-carotene, and β-carotene may have a protective effect on AMD. These effects may be more evident among current smokers.