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Abstract. Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is one of the most destructive diseases causing severe decreases in wheat yield. Early detection of wheat stripe rust is of great significance for developing control strategies. The objectives of this study is to assess the thermal images of normal and infected wheat leaves for early detection of stripe rust after artificial infection with Puccinia striiformis fungus in a pot experiment under controlled conditions. The results revealed that infected wheat leaves can be distinguished from healthy ones at 6 days past inoculation (dpi) using thermal infrared imaging, that is, at least 4 days before visible symptoms appeared. With an increase in the number of days after inoculation, the divergence in the average temperature and maximum temperature difference (MTD) between infected and healthy wheat leaves gradually increases. The average temperature of the inoculated wheat leaves is 2.5°C lower than that of healthy ones, and the MTD of the inoculated leaves is 2.28°C larger than that of healthy ones at 16 dpi. Fungal development was also assessed microscopically. The temperature change was associated with the loss of integrity of the host cell and with subcuticular growth of the pathogen in infected tissue. Thus, thermal imaging has the potential for early nondestructive detection of wheat stripe rust.