The present invention relates to a process for purifying ethylenediamine (EDA) by distillation, wherein the process comprises the steps a) and b). In step a), a mixture (G1) comprising water, EDA and N-methylethylenediamine (N-MeEDA) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D1), and the major part of the water comprised in the mixture (G1) is separated off overhead at a pressure of greater than 4.8 bara. From the bottom of (D1), the water-enriched mixture (G2) is fed into a distillation apparatus (D2) in step b). At the top of (D2), the major part of the N-MeEDA is distilled off. The stream (S3) obtained from the bottom of (D2) comprises EDA, with the components water and N-MeEDA comprised in the mixture (G1) having been largely or completely removed. Further distillation steps can optionally be carried out in order to obtain pure EDA, for example when diethylenetriamine (DETA) is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1). If ammonia is additionally comprised in the mixture (G1), an ammonia removal is preferably additionally carried out before carrying out the step a) in the process of the invention.