In three-dimentional (3D) profilometry based on fringe projection, projected fringe patterns will introduce carrier phases into the overall phase distribution. In an actual imaging system, optical aberration will result in nonlinear carrier, so the nonlinear carrier must be removed accurately to get the phase distribution modulated by the object. A new carrier removal method using Zernike polynomials fitting is proposed. The carrier phases can be obtained by Zernike polynomials fitting using data points on reference area. By subtracting the carrier phases from the overall phase distribution, the object height-related phases can be obtained. Simulation experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of the method for two deformed fringe patterns with and without image aberration. The experimental results show that the method can effectively remove the carrier, and reduce the reconstruction error. And this method has simple algorithm, needs only one image and can be used in the applications which require least time consumption.