Abstract We investigate resistance switching in proton-memristive NdNiO₃ film devices via the diffusional migration of a proton dopant by using electric field control. Lattice strain is found to play a significant role in determining proton migration within NdNiO₃ thin film. Compressive strain can accelerate the migration, resulting in a switching efficiency of 28.22% which is significantly higher than 0.21% on a tensile-strained device. The results demonstrate the significance of strain engineering and will guide the development of the design of multifunctional perovskite devices for emerging iontronics memory and computing applications.