Humic acid amide (HA-amide) was prepared by amidation of HA and dodecylamine (DDA) with carbonyl diimidazole (CDI) as coupling reagent. Furthermore, HA-amide was added to poly (lactic acid) (PLA) as a nucleating agent to prepare poly (lactic acid)/humic acid amide composites (PLA/HA-amide) by melt blending. The structure and performance of PLA/HA-amide composites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and rheological analysis. Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics showed the HA-amide enhanced the crystallization rate of PLA. The results of crystallization behavior of PLA/HA-amide composites showed that HA-amide was an efficient nucleating agent of PLA. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT