The invention relates to a method for the dimerization of alcohols in the context of a Guerbet reaction, in which one or more alcohols (A) having 2 to 72 C atoms and 1 to 3 OH groups per molecule are reacted in the presence of (a) a base (B), (b) a carbonyl compound (C), and (c) a hydrogenation catalyst (H) from the group of metals ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, said metals being in the elementary form, with the proviso that the alcohols (A) have at least one primary or secondary OH group, and that a C atom that carries at least one H atom as a substituent is directly adjacent to the C atom with said primary or secondary OH group.