Autocratic leadership is often seen as negative for performance, however, theories on impression management suggest that autocratic leadership may also positively affect performance through follower ingratiation behavior. This study also examined the moderating role of procedural justice climate in this relationship. To test the effects, a two-wave survey was conducted with 185 subordinates and 56 supervisors from a company in mainland China. The results indicated that subordinate ingratiation behavior mediated the relationship between autocratic leadership and leader-rated performance. As expected, this indirect relationship was positive and stronger when procedural justice climate was low rather than high. The implications for practice and theory are discussed.