A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, yellow-pigmented actinomycete, designated strain NAA-13T, was isolated from a freshwater spring located in Kaoshiung, southern Taiwan. This strain was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The organism had chemotaxonomic and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Nocardioides. The strain contained LL-diaminopimelic acid as the principal diamino acid of the peptidoglycan, MK-8(H4) as the major menaquinone, and iso-C16:0 and C17:0 as the predominant fatty acids. 16S rRNA gene sequence studies showed that the strain formed a monophyletic branch at the periphery of the evolutionary radiation occupied by the genus Nocardioides; its closest neighbours were Nocardioides insulae DS-51T (94.9 % similarity), Nocardioides pyridinolyticus KCTC 0074BP T (96.5 % similarity) and Nocardioides aquiterrae GW-9T (96.6 % similarity). The DNA G+C content of strain NAA-13T was 71.8 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain NAA-13T represents a novel species of the genus Nocardioides, for which the name Nocardioides fonticola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NAA-13T (=LMG 24213T=BCRC 16874T).