The ⁵⁹Ni(n, xp) reaction cross sections have been measured following the surrogate reaction ratio method in the equivalent neutron energy range of 11.9–15.8 MeV by populating the compound nucleus ⁶⁰Ni∗ through transfer reaction ⁵⁶Fe(6Li, d) at Elab = 35.9 MeV. The ⁵⁹Co(⁶Li, α)⁶¹Ni∗ transfer reaction at Elab = 40.5 MeV has been used as the reference reaction which is the surrogate of ⁶⁰Ni(n, xp) reaction populating the compound nucleus ⁶¹Ni∗. The proton decay probabilities have been determined by measuring evaporated protons at backward angles in coincidence with projectile like fragments (PLFs, either d or α) detected around grazing angles. The cross sections for the reference reaction ⁶⁰Ni(n, xp) are taken from JENDL-4.0 library, which closely reproduce the available experimental data. The cross sections for the desired ⁵⁹Ni(n, xp) reaction so obtained compare well with the nuclear-reactions-model code TALYS-1.8 using microscopic level densities. The present experimental data are consistent with the evaluated data library of ROSFOND-2015 but not with TENDL-2015 and ENDF/B-VIII, indicating the need of new evaluations for this reaction of importance to fusion technology.