The male suspects, aged 17 to 41, were arrested on Saturday and Sunday from Ulu Langat and Cheras, suburbs near Kuala Lumpur, police chief Khalid Abu Baker said in a statement on Sunday.
The men were suspected of plotting attacks on "strategic targets and governmental interests around the Klang Valley", he said.
The plans were in response to calls by Islamic State to launch terrorist attacks on secular Islamic countries seen as "enemies of IS". Authorities said previous arrests of suspected IS militants was another reason behind the intended attacks.