The invention discloses a preparation method for a roflumilast intermediate. The preparation method is characterized by comprising the following steps of: etherifying 3,4-dihydroxy benzaldehyde serving as a raw material and 3-hydroxyl by using benzene ring non-substituted, mono-substituted or poly-substituted benzyl protection 4-hydroxy and halogenated methyl cyclopropane; performing catalytic hydrogenolysis to obtain 4-hydroxy-3-cyclopropyl methoxy-benzaldehyde; etherifying and oxidizing the 4-hydroxy-3-cyclopropyl methoxy-benzaldehyde with difluoromonoch-loromethane to obtain 3-cyclopropyl methoxy-4-difluoromethoxybenzoic acid (I) serving as the roflumilast intermediate. The preparation method has the advantages of easiness and convenience for operating, mild reaction conditions, stable quality, simple post-treatment and no need of complex operation such as column chromatography and the like, and is suitable for industrial production.