Strain SB026T was isolated from Brazilian rainforest soil and its taxonomic position established using data from a polyphasic study. The organism showed a combination of chemotaxonomic and morphological features consistent with its classification in the genus Amycolatopsis and formed a branch in the Amycolatopsis 16S rRNA gene tree together with Amycolatopsis bullii NRRL B-24847T, Amycolatopsis plumensis NRRL B-24324T, Amycolatopsis tolypomycina DSM 44544T and Amycolatopsis vancoresmycina NRRL B-24208T. It was related most closely to A. bullii NRRL B-24847T (99.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), but was distinguished from this strain by a low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (~46 %) and discriminatory phenotypic properties. Based on the combined genotypic and phenotypic data, it is proposed that the isolate should be classified in the genus Amycolatopsis as representing a novel species, Amycolatopsis rhabdoformis sp. nov. The type strain is SB026T ( = CBMAI 1694T = CMAA 1285T = NCIMB 14900T).