Objective: To evaluate the effect of educational strategies on sleep quality and its relation to diabetes-related distress and glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). Materials and methods: Randomized clinical trial involving two groups. Group 1 (G1, n = 45) received verbal guidance and leaflets on sleep hygiene strategies and group 2 (G2, n = 46) received usual health care guidelines on self-care with the feet. Sleep was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory and diabetes-related distress by the Diabetes Distress Scale. Linear mixed-effects models and linear regression model were used for the statistical analysis. Results: At the end of the follow-up, sleep quality improvement (p = 0.02) was verified in G1. Low diabetes-related distress score (p = 0.03), being male (p = 0.02), belonging to G1 (p = 0.002), and age (p = 0.04) contributed to better sleep quality. Conclusion: Educational guidelines on sleep hygiene in patients with DM2 were effective in improving sleep quality, measured by the PSQI instrument and emotional stress related to diabetes as assessed by the Diabetes Distress Scale.