Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and device for label automatic allocation in ring network protection. The method includes: after physical topology configuration of ring network protection is completed, if connectivity detection between a first node and a downstream node of a ring tunnel is UP, receiving, a first label distribution message sent by the downstream node; sending, by the first node according to the identifier indicating that the tail node label is ready, a second label distribution message to the upstream node; so that the upstream node learns that label allocation for all nodes on the ring tunnel between the first node and a tail node is completed. The method solves problems in the prior art that a workload for configuration of a working ring is big and availability of an end-to-end service cannot be ensured.