The title compound, C(12)H(13)ClN(6), was prepared by reaction of 4,5-dichloro-7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine with 2-(1H-imid-azol-4-yl)-N-methyl-ethanamine, and the X-ray study confirmed that chloro-substituent in six-membered ring was replaced in the reaction. The exocyclic N atom environment is approximately coplanar with the pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine [corresponding dihedral angle is 5.5 (1)°], whereas the mean plane of the N-C-C-C link connecting with the imidazolyl ring is almost exactly orthogonal to the plane of the bicyclic system [dihedral angle = 91.6 (2)°]. The imidazolyl plane itself, however, forms a relatively small dihedral angle of 20.8 (1)° with the pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine plane. There are two independent N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds in the structure, which link mol-ecules into layers parallel to (03).