Reliable and accurate detection of blood glucose level is extremely important to monitor and prevent diabetic complications. Transition metal oxides, especially copper oxide (CuO), hold great potential for glucose sensor due to their good electrochemical activity and controllable structure. Herein, we fabricated a facile non-enzymatic sensor using CuO microtubes (MTs) as electrocatalytic active materials for electrochemical detection of glucose. The CuO MTs were hydrothermally prepared via the Kirkendall effect of KCu7S4 microwires. The obtained CuO shows unique tubular structure with abundant nanosheets on the surface and exhibits good crystallinity. The developed CuO based sensor exhibits a wide linear range up to 5.664 mM, with a satisfactory sensitivity of 992.073 μAcm−2 mM−1 and a short response time within 2 s. The detection limit for glucose is as low as 307 nM. In addition, the sensor also displays superior anti-interference performance, excellent reproducibility and long-term stability owing to its special tubular structure. All these excellent results show that the prepared CuO MTs can be a promising electrode material for glucose sensing. Display omitted •The hollow CuO microtubes were prepared based on the kirkendall effect by simple hydrothermal method.•The hollow CuO microtubes provides larger specific surface area and abundant electrocatalytic active sites.•The comprehensive performance of as-fabricated modified electrode is excellent.