We aimed to investigate the prognostic factors for salvage liver transplant in patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after hepatectomy. This retrospective analysis included 53 patients who underwent salvage living-donor liver transplantation between January 2007 and January 2018. There were 24 and 29 patients in the early (recurrence ≤24months after primary liver resection) and the late recurrence groups, respectively. In the multivariate Cox regression model, pre-liver transplant downstaging therapy, early recurrence (ER) after primary liver resection , and recurrence-to-liver-transplant ≥12months were independent risks to predict recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after salvage living-donor liver transplantation. Compared with the late recurrence group, the ER group showed lower disease-free survival rates (p<0.001); however, the overall survival rates did not differ between the two groups (p=0.355). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 83.3%, 70.6%, and 66.2%, and 96.0%, 91.6%, and 91.6% in the early and late recurrence groups, respectively. When stratified by recurrence-to-liver transplant time and pre-liver transplant downstaging therapy in the ER group, disease-free survival and overall survival rates were significantly different. ER after primary liver resection with advanced tumor status and a longer period of recurrence-to-liver-transplant (≥12months) have a negative impact on salvage liver transplant. Our findings provide novel recommendations for treatment strategies and eligibility for salvage liver transplant candidates.