The thermal stabilizing effect of sugar on freeze-dried protein is studied, in particular on the relationship between the thermal stabilizing effect and the degree of sugar-protein hydrogen bond formation. Sucrose and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are used as models for sugar and protein. Several freeze-dried samples of LDH involved in sucrose were prepared; they differed in the degree of crystallinity of sucrose. By X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, it is found that when sucrose is amorphous in the samples, the degree of hydrogen bond formation is high and LDH is stabilized remarkably. In contrast, when sucrose is crystalline, the degree of hydrogen bond formation is low and LDH is inactivated. These results indicate that the stabilizing effect of sugar is closely related to the sugar-protein hydrogen bond. The influence of sucrose content on the thermal stabilizing effect is also investigated. It is found that there is an optimum sucrose content for the thermal stabilizing effect. This is because, by the presence of LDH, the amorphous structure of sucrose is stabilized and protected from crystallization that causes loss of sucrose-LDH hydrogen bonds. Thus, we can deduce that sugars and proteins work together to maintain protein activities.