Renal preservation is a universal problem since ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains an unresolved issue during the procedure of renal transplantation. Tanshinone IIA, one of the effective components of the traditional Chinese medicine Danshen, was reported to exhibit a variety of biochemical activities, including protection against I/R injury. Therefore, identifying the specific molecular pathway mediating tanshinone IIA protection of renal preservation would be of great value to the patients concerned. In this study, rats were divided into two groups and the kidneys were isolated and preserved in two solutions separately, one with Celsior solution and the other with tanshinone IIA additionally added to the Celsior solution. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and the quantity of malonaldehyde (MDA) were measured, the expression of CHOP and caspase-12 were assessed by immunohistochemistry staining, and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed after 0, 24 and 48 h of preservation. A significant increase in the activities of SOD and a decrease in the quantity of MDA were observed in the kidneys preserved with tanshinone IIA at 24 and 48 h (P<0.01). The expression of CHOP and caspase-12 was lower in the kidneys preserved with tanshinone IIA at 24 and 48 h than that in the kidneys preserved with Celsior solution alone (P<0.05). The results suggest that the supplementation of tanshinone IIA in standard Celsior solution may significantly improve long-term kidney preservation. Attenuating oxidative stress injury and decreasing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress‑mediated apoptosis may play a role in the protection of kidney hypothermic preservation.