The title compound, C17H29NO4, contains a chiral center and crystallizes as a racemate. The asymmetric unit consists of two non-equivalent mol-ecules, in which the carbeth-oxy groups have markedly different orientations [C(=O)CC(OEt)=O torsion angles = 59.3 (2) and 156.0 (2)°]. In the crystal, mol-ecules form chains along [101] through N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.