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Curcumin, a major phytochemical in turmeric, inhibits the proliferation of many types of solid cancer cells by enhancing p53 expression. However, the long non-coding RNA H19 directly inhibits p53 activation and thus promotes gastric cancer progression. The aim of this study was to assess the role of H19 in curcumin-induced proliferative inhibition of gastric cancer. The gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 was treated with curcumin at different concentrations and time points. The effect of curcumin on proliferation was assessed using cell counting kit-8 assays and flow cytometry with Ki67 staining. In addition, H19 expression was quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometric detection of Annexin V and propidium iodide double staining. The protein expression of p53, B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2, Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and c-Myc in curcumin-treated cells was detected by western blotting. The present study demonstrated that curcumin inhibited the proliferation of SGC7901 cells and suppressed H19 expression in a concentration-dependent manner, while p53 expression was enhanced. Ectopic expression of H19 in SGC7901 cells reversed curcumin-induced proliferative inhibition and downregulated p53 expression. Furthermore, while curcumin induced cell apoptosis and enhanced the expression ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, which are downstream molecules of p53, ectopic expression of H19 inhibited curcumin-induced cell apoptosis. In addition, curcumin decreased the expression of the c-Myc oncogene, and exogenous c-Myc protein reversed the curcumin-induced downregulation of H19 expression. These results suggested that curcumin inhibits the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by downregulating the c-Myc/H19 pathway. Therefore, curcumin may be considered a novel therapeutic strategy to inhibit gastric cancer cell growth.