In the present study, the composite formation of carbon-doped ZnO (C–ZnO) with binary metal oxide semiconductor V 2 O 5 has been done to hinder the limitations of both ZnO and V 2 O 5 in the photocatalysis application. There are limited reports on heterostructure materials composed of ZnO and V 2 O 5 for visible-light-driven composite photocatalysts. But we have synthesized the nanocomposites with the crucial components of C–ZnO for the first time with V 2 O 5 , to the best of our knowledge. A C–ZnO/V 2 O 5 nanocomposite was synthesized from the different weight percents of V 2 O 5 concerning the C–ZnO nanoparticles. An XRD study depicted the orthorhombic phase of V 2 O 5 and the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO in the composites. The chemical states and the valence of the species in the C–ZnO/V 2 O 5 composite have been confirmed by XPS analysis. The catalytic performance of the synthesized nanocomposite photocatalysts against organic dye degradation under visible-light exposure has been investigated. The C–ZnO/V 2 O 5 nanocomposite photocatalyst exhibited improved catalytic performance over bare ZnO and V 2 O 5 . Based on the recycling experiments, the stability of the as-synthesized photocatalyst was confirmed toward the degradation of organic contaminants. The significant role of reactive species in the photocatalysis degradation process was confirmed from the trapping experiments. The interfacial contact between the ZnO and V 2 O 5 helps to separate the charge carriers and actively participates in the photocatalytic degradation process.