A GaSb/GaAs quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QD LED) with a single GaSb QD layer is investigated in this paper. The room-temperature photoluminescence peak blueshift with increasing excitation power densities suggests a type-II alignment of the GaSb/GaAs heterostructures. Significant electroluminescence (EL) is observed for the device under forward biases, which suggests that pronounced dipole transitions occur at the GaSb/GaAs interfaces. With increasing forward biases, the observed EL peak blueshift confirms that the origin of luminescence is from the type-II GaSb/GaAs QD structures. A model is established to explain the operation mechanisms of the type-II QD LED.