Abstract We propose a scheme for nonreciprocal light propagation in two coupled cavities system, in which a two-level quantum emitter is coupled to one of the optical microcavities. For the case of parity-time ( $${\mathscr{P}}{\mathscr{T}}$$ P T ) symmetric system (i.e., coupled active-passive cavities system), the cavity gain can significantly enhance the optical nonlinearity induced by the interaction between a quantum emitter and cavity field beyond weak-excitation approximation. The increased optical nonlinearity results in the non-lossy nonreciprocal light propagation with high isolation ratio in proper parameters range. In addition, our calculations show that nonreciprocal light propagation will not be affected by the unstable output field intensity caused by optical bistability, and we can even switch directions of nonreciprocal light propagation by appropriately adjusting the system parameters.