To investigate the risk of mortality from infections by comparing the underlying causes of death versus the multiple causes of death in known diabetic subjects living in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. A total of 185,341 subjects with diabetes aged 30–89 years were identified in the year 2010, and causes of death were assessed from 2010 to 2015. Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed with regional mortality rates as reference. The underlying causes of death and all the diseases reported in the death certificates were scrutinized. At the end of the follow-up, 36,382 subjects had deceased. We observed an increased risk of death from infection-related causes in subjects with diabetes with a SMR of 1.83 (95% CI, 1.71–1.94). The SMR for death from septicemia was 1.91 (95% CI, 1.76–2.06) and from pneumonia was 1.47 (95% CI, 1.36–1.59). The use of the multiple causes of death approach emphasized the association of infectious diseases with mortality. The results of the present study demonstrate an excess mortality due to infection-related diseases in patients with diabetes; more interestingly, by routine mortality analyses, the results show a possible underestimation of the effect of these diseases on mortality. •Infections are growing as a major problem in diabetes.•The risk of death from infections in diabetes is quite high.•Septicemia and pneumonia are major threateners.•The multiple causes of death approach may give a more realistic estimate of mortality.