Purpose: The study aimed to determine the interactive effect of temperature with nutrients on maize residues decomposition in soil. Materials and methods: We conducted an incubation of 87 days by applying maize straw (δ¹³C value of −11.2‰) to soil (δ¹³C value of −26.3‰) with low (N₀), medium (N_M), and high (N_H) level of nutrients addition, at two temperature levels of 5 °C (T_-L) and 25 °C (T_-H). We measured the cumulative CO₂-C efflux, residues decomposition, temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀), and extracellular enzyme activities. Results and discussion: Increased temperature significantly increased cumulative CO₂ efflux and straw decomposition, with an enhanced rate of active (K_a) and slow (K_s) pools of soil and residues C. The mean values of Q₁₀ ranged from 1.4 to 1.6 for the total CO₂ efflux and 1.4 to 1.7 for maize straw decomposition. The outcome might be due to temperature-dependent microbial activation at 25 °C. The activities of β-glucosidase, α-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, and β-xylosidase enzymes were positively correlated with cumulative CO₂ emissions at 25 °C suggesting microbial regulation on SOM decomposition. We found a U-shaped pattern of nutrients regulation on the temperature sensitivity of maize straw decomposition, with the lowest Q10 under N_M. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that nutrients regulated the temperature effects on residue C decomposition by adjusting microbial activity (extracellular enzyme activities). Consequently, it may lead to soil C sequestration under the current climate change scenario.