By incorporating the phonon–phonon scattering, phonon-boundary scattering and phonon-vacancy scattering into the linearized Boltzmann transport equation, we theoretically investigate the effects of size and edge roughness on thermal conductivity of single vacancy-defective graphene ribbons. Due to the severe suppression of high-frequency phonons by phonon-vacancy scattering which includes the impacts of missing mass and linkages, as well as the variation of the force constant of bonds associated with vacancies, the low-frequency ballistic phonons have a higher contribution to the thermal conductivity, which results in the stronger length, weaker width and weaker edge roughness dependence on thermal conductivity of vacancy-defective graphene ribbons than that of pristine ones. Our findings are helpful to understand and manipulate thermal conductivity of graphene by phononic engineering.