The frost heaving cycle damage often leads to geological hazards of jointed rock mass in cold area, and the key factor that determines the stability of jointed rock mass is the shear strength of rock mass. There are some deviations in the generalized criteria for calculating the shear strength of jointed rock in cold regions under the combined effect of freeze-thaw cycles and shear loading. The similar material test method is adopted to carry out freeze-thaw cycle and shear experiment of rock mass. In this case, a new shear strength criterion of non-persistent jointed rock describing the progressive deterioration by freeze-thaw cycles is proposed. Firstly, the weakening law of specimens under the coupling effect of freeze-thaw and shear is derived according to the shear test results of freeze-thaw specimen, which demonstrate that the shear strength of freeze-thaw specimens consists of three parts including weakened and non-weakened rock bridges as well as joint surface. On this basis, the weakening law of rock-bridge is quantitatively represented by the coupled damage model, and the modified Jennings shear strength criterion which considers the coupled effect of freeze-thaw cycle and shear is achieved. Finally, the data analysis shows that it can accurately predict the shear strength of non-persistent jointed rock under the influence of freeze-thaw cycles, the average relative error between the experimental and theoretical results is 2.1%，and the theoretical calculation results by the modified Jennings criterion agree better with the experimental results, which can provide a reliable basis for the study of freeze-thaw rock mass damage and safety protection of jointed rock mass in cold regions.