Nanocrystalline pyrochlore AgSbO3 has been successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and was fully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The as-prepared pyrochlore AgSbO3 showed a higher photocatalytic activity in the degradation of typical dye as compared to that prepared by the solid-state reaction. The photocatalytic mechanism of pyrochlore AgSbO3 and its stability during photocatalytic reactions was investigated. It was found that pyrochlore AgSbO3 can maintain its structure stability and photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiations by partial formation of metallic Ag and Ag2O on its surface during the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. This study provides some new insights into the photocatalytic mechanism of Ag-based multi-metal oxide photocatalysts. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.