A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain Y9(T), was isolated from a soil sample collected in Ningxia Province in China and was characterized to determine its taxonomic position. Strain Y9(T) contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone. Major fatty acid components were summed feature 3 (C(16:1)�s7c and/or iso-C(15:0) 2-OH) and C(16:0). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain Y9(T) was 68.7 mol%. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain fell within the evolutionary radiation encompassed by the genus Massilia. Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain Y9(T) and the type strains of recognized Massilia species ranged from 95.2 to 98.2%, the highest values being with Massilia albidiflava 45(T) (98.2%) and Massilia lutea 101(T) (98.0%). However, levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain Y9(T) and M. albidiflava KCTC 12343(T) and M. lutea KCTC 12345(T) were 37 and 26%, respectively. Strain Y9(T) was clearly differentiated from its nearest phylogenetic relatives in the genus Massilia based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic properties. Therefore, strain Y9(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Massilia, for which the name Massilia flava sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Y9(T) (=CGMCC 1.10685(T) =KCTC 23585(T)).