Competing and precedented DNA-catalyzed reactions were DNA phosphodiester hydrolysis or deglycosylation, each also leading to a 3′-phosphate but at a different nucleotide position within the DNA substrate. One oligonucleotide 3′-kinase deoxyribozyme, obtained from an N40 random pool and named 3′Kin1, can 3′-phosphorylate nearly any DNA oligonucleotide substrate for which the 3′-terminus has the sequence motif 5′-NKR-3′, where N denotes any oligonucleotide sequence, K = T or G, and R = A or G. These results establish the viabilty of in vitro selection for identifying DNA enzymes that 3′-phosphorylate DNA oligonucleotides.