From the perspective of FDI quality, the provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 were selected to study the relationship between environmental regulation and industrial structure optimization in the Yellow River Basin.First, the influence mechanism of the three variable was revealed.Secondly, the impact of environmental regulation on industrial structure optimization through FDI quality intermediary effect was empirically tested.Finally, through the nonlinear model, the essence of the mediating effect of FDI quality was clarified.The results are as follows.Environmental regulation hinders the optimization of industrial structure through the mediating effect of FDI quality. There is a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and FDI quality.Therefore, in the process of high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin,The choice of environmental regulation intensity plays a key role in improving the quality of FDI and then optimizing the industrial structure.