A gauge-invariant formulation of the de Gennes model for the nematic—to—smectic-A transition is presented. In this formulation the energy associated with the gauge field A⃗ reduces to the Frank elastic energy with the application of the constraint n⃗0·A⃗=0 where n⃗0 is the uniform equilibrium director and A⃗ is to be identified with deviations δn⃗ of the director from equilibrium. It is shown that thermodynamic quantities and renormalization-group recursion relations are gauge invariant. All gauge dependence appears in the exponent η describing order-parameter correlations. The gauge invariance of a negative dielectric anisotropy smectic-A in an external electric field is also studied.