Purpose Prolonged mechanical ventilation increases the risk of developing ventilator-induced lung injury, but the relationship between duration of donor mechanical ventilation and post-lung transplant lung function is not known. We sought to test this relationship, and hypothesized that increased duration of ventilation would be associated with lower post-transplant lung function. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing lung transplantation in our program between January 2007 and December 2016. The risk factor of interest was duration of donor ventilation (DDV) in days prior to organ retrieval. The primary outcome was FEV1 % predicted at 1 year post-transplant (1yrFEV1%). We used multiple linear regression to test the association between DDV and 1yrFEV1%, adjusting for donor age, donor sex, donor smoking history, total ischemic time, presence of respiratory culture positive for clinically relevant organisms and donor oxygenation at procurement. Secondary outcomes included FVC % predicted at 1 year post-transplant (1yrFVC%), FEV1 and FVC % predicted at 3 months post-transplant (3moFEV1% and 3moFVC%), incidence of grade 3 primary graft dysfunction (PGD3) at 48-72 hours, ICU length of stay (LOS) and hospital LOS and 3-month and 1-year mortality. Results 396 patients were eligible for study, 193 of whom had available DDV data. Median DDV was 3 days (range 0-12 days). 131 donors (68%) had bronchial wash cultures positive for clinically relevant organisms. In the multivariate analysis, longer DDV was not associated with a lower 1yrFEV1% (p=0.396). In terms of secondary outcomes, 1yrFVC%, incidence of Grade 3 PGD, ICU and hospital LOS, 3-month and 1-year mortality were not associated with DDV. A significant reduction in 3moFEV1% (-1.5% per day of ventilation, (95% CI -0.01, -2.91, p=0.05)), and 3moFVC% (-1.9% per day of ventilation (95% CI -0.49, -3.23, p=0.008)) were noted with longer DDV. DDV was not significantly associated with culture positivity (odds ratio [OR] 1.18 per day of ventilation, 95% CI 0.98 − 1.41, p=0.07). Conclusion Duration of donor ventilation prior to procurement was not associated with FEV1 % predicted at 1 year post-transplant. Duration was inversely associated with 3 month FEV1 and FVC % predicted, which may reflect a distinct, transient ventilator-induced lung injury state.