In the crystal structure of the title dinuclear compound, [Ni2(C4H4O5)(C16H36N4)2](ClO4)2·H2O, the bridging dicarboxylate dianion O,O′-chelates to two Ni atoms, both of which are also chelated by the N-macrocylic ligand. The Ni atoms exhibit a distorted octahedral coordination. N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the cations and the uncoordinated water molecules into a layer structure; the perchlorate anions occupy the space between adjacent layers, and are only weakly linked to the layers. One of the perchlorate anions is disordered over two sets of sites in a 3:2 ratio