Firms employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to influence stakeholder perceptions and positively induce desirable business outcomes. The mechanism through which stakeholder management affects the sustainability of CSR projects has been under-explored despite the burgeoning literature on corporate social responsibility. In response, we systematically review empirical studies on stakeholder management in the sustainability of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects to assess the status quo of literature to inform future direction in this study area. Four databases, including Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), Ebsco Host and Google Scholar, were searched to identify relevant articles published over the last two decades (January 2000 to November 2023). Peer-reviewed journal publications were systematically reviewed to come up with the findings of this study. The findings highlight that firms practice stakeholder management as part of delivering CSR projects. It also revealed the complexity of stakeholder management within the various sectors, with its stakeholder pool affecting CSR project sustainability. However, there is a need for more evidence of this finding since there were only a few relevant empirical publications in the literature to support this position. The study will draw CSR practitioners’ attention to the fact that comprehensive stakeholder management is essential for the sustainability of CSR projects. This study used the systematic review based on clearly defined transparent processes and criteria to aggregate knowledge on the status quo of stakeholder management to ensure the sustainability of CSR projects.