The title Schiff base compound, C21H26N2O4, is a second triclinic polymorph of a previously reported room-temperature structure [Jia (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. E65, o646]. Strong intramolecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds generate S(6) ring motifs. Intermolecular C—H⋯O interactions link neighbouring molecules into dimers with an R
2
2(16) ring motif. The mean planes of the two benzene rings are almost perpendicular to each other, making a dihedral angle of 88.24 (5)°. An interesting feature of the crystal structure is the intermolecular short C⋯O [3.1878 (13) Å] contact which is shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii of the relevant atoms. The crystal structure is further stabilized by intermolecular C—H⋯π and π–π interactions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.7414 (6) Å]. The structure has a stereogenic centre but the space group is centrosymmetric, so the molecule exists as a racemate.