Nrf2 antioxidant signaling is involved in liver protection, but this generalization overlooks conflicting studies indicating that Nrf2 effects are not necessarily hepatoprotective. The role of Nrf2/HO-1 in cholestatic liver injury (CLI) remains poorly defined. Here, we report that Nrf2/HO-1 activation exacerbates liver injury rather than exerts a protective effect in CLI. Inhibiting HO-1 or ameliorating bilirubin transport alleviates liver injury in CLI models. Nrf2 knockout confers hepatoprotection in CLI mice, whereas in non-CLI mice, Nrf2 knockout aggravates liver damage. In the CLI setting, oxidative stress activates Nrf2/HO-1, leads to bilirubin accumulation, and impairs mitochondrial function. High levels of bilirubin reciprocally upregulate the activation of Nrf2 and HO-1, while antioxidant and mitochondria-targeted SOD2 overexpression attenuate the toxicity of bilirubin. Additionally, the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 is significantly elevated in serum of patients with CLI. These results reveal an unrecognized function of Nrf2 signaling in exacerbating liver injury in cholestatic disease. Overall design: To investigate the effects of HO-1 in cholestatic liver injury, we performed transcriptome sequencing (RNA seq) analysis on mouse liver tissues treated with OA and ZnPP+OA.