With the increase in patients having impaired renal function at liver transplant due to MELD, accurate predictors of posttransplant native renal recovery are needed to select candidates for simultaneous liver–kidney transplantation (SLK). Current UNOS guidelines rely on specific clinical criteria for SLK allocation. To examine these guidelines and other variables predicting nonrecovery, we analyzed 155 SLK recipients, focusing on a subset (n = 78) that had post‐SLK native GFR (nGFR) determined by radionuclide renal scans. The 77 patients not having renal scans received a higher number of extended criteria donor organs and had worse posttransplant survival. Of the 78 renal scan patients, 31 met and 47 did not meet pre‐SLK UNOS criteria. The UNOS criteria were more predictive than our institutional criteria for all nGFR recovery thresholds (20–40 mL/min), although at the most conservative cut‐off (nGFR ≤ 20) it had low sensitivity (55.3%), specificity (75%), PPV (67.6%) and NPV (63.8%) for predicting post‐SLK nonrecovery. On multivariate analysis, the only predictor of native renal nonrecovery (nGFR ≤ 20) was abnormal pre‐SLK renal imaging (OR 3.85, CI 1.22–12.5). Our data support the need to refine SLK selection utilizing more definitive biomarkers and predictors of native renal recovery than current clinical criteria. This analysis of radionuclide imaging following simultaneous liver–kidney transplantation demonstrates the need for more definitive predictors of native renal recovery than current clinical criteria to better guide the selection of acceptable candidates for this procedure versus liver transplant alone. See editorial by Feng and Trotter on page 2869.