In this paper, the influence of Dy3+ doping on the sensor response (SR) and selectivity of In2O3 sensors for selective detection of ethanol and acetone has been studied. (0, 1, 5,10%) Dy3+-doped In2O3 nanoparticles has been prepared employing a co-precipitation method and characterized by XRD, RAMAN, TEM, EDS and Photoluminescence studies. It has been observed that Dy3+ doping inhibits the nanoparticles growth and increases the lattice constant, structural disorder, activation energy, defect concentration and surface basicity. The highest SR for 10% Dy3+-doped In2O3 sensor has been ascribed to small size, high defects, high surface basicity and large lattice distortion. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.