With the increasing interest in two-dimensional van der Waals materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has emerged as a promising material for electronic and energy storage devices. It suffers from poor cycling stability and low rate capability when used as an anode in lithium ion batteries. Here, N-doped MoS₂ nanosheets with 2–8 atomic layers, increased interlayer distance, mesoporous structure and high surface area synthesised by a simple sol–gel method show an enhanced lithium storage performance, delivering a high reversible capacity (998.0 mA h g⁻¹, 50 mA g⁻¹), high rate performance (610 mA h g⁻¹, 2 A g⁻¹), and excellent cycling stability. The excellent lithium storage performance of the MoS₂ nanosheets might be due to the better electrical and ionic conductivity and improved lithium ion diffusion which are related to their structural characteristics and high concentration N doping. The possible mechanism of the improved performance is proposed and discussed.