We investigated 30 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and 103 healthy volunteers for the cytokines polymorphisms of the IL‐1α, IL‐1β, IL‐1R, IL‐1RA, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10, IL‐12, tumor necrosis factor‐α, interferon‐γ, transforming growth factor‐β, IL‐1β, IL‐2, IL‐4, and IL‐4RA genes. The strongest correlation of a genotype with the disease was found for gene polymorphisms at the promotor region of IL‐4, where the CT genotypes at the positions (−590) and (−33) were more frequent in the IPF group (P < 0.0001, P_corr < 0.0022; vs P < 0.0001, P_corr < 0.0022). Our results support the idea of the pathogenic role of cytokine gene polymorphisms in the etiology and pathogenesis of IPF, with emphasize on the IL‐4 promotor gene polymorphisms.