Disclosed is a method for the distillative purification of aqueous raw dimethylacetamide (raw DMAc) containing DMAc as well as low-boiling and high-boiling components. According to the inventive method, the low-boiling and high-boiling components are eliminated in one column or several columns that are mounted in series so as to obtain pure DMAc. The disclosed method is characterized in that the pure DMAc is withdrawn from the single column or the last of several columns as a liquid side stream.