An investigation of the mechanism of period-doubling bifurcation in a voltage mode controlled buck-boost converter operating in discontinuous conduction mode is conducted from the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamical systems. The discrete iterative model describing the dynamics of the close-loop is derived. Period-doubling bifurcation occurs at certain values of the feedback factor. Results from numerical simulations and experiments are provided to verify the evolution of perioddoubling bifurcation, and the results are consistent with the theoretical analysis. These results show that the buck-boost converters exhibit a wide range of nonlinear behavior, and the system exhibits a typical period-doubling bifurcation route to chaos under particular operating conditions.