A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium designated FJAT-4402T, was isolated from the weed rhizosphere soil of the Gobi desert in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the north-west of China. Isolate FJAT-4402T grew at 15-40 °C (optimum 30 °C), pH 5-10 (optimum pH 7) and in 0-3 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 %). Phylogenetic analyses, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showed that isolate FJAT-4402T was a member of the genus Bacillus and was most closely related to Bacillus licheniformis DSM 13T (96.2 %). The isolate showed 33.3 % DNA-DNA relatedness to the closest reference isolate, B. licheniformis DSM 13T. The diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan of isolate FJAT-4402T was meso-diaminopimelic acid and the predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0 (28.5 %), iso-C15 : 0 (20.1 %), anteiso-C17 : 0 (14.3 %), iso-C16 : 0 (9.6 %), C16 : 0 (8.4 %), iso-C17 : 0 (6.2 %) and iso-C14 : 0 (4.7 %) and the DNA G+C content was 42.0 mol%. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic properties indicated that strain FJAT-4402T represents a novel species within the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus gobiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-4402T ( = DSM 29500T = CGMCC 1.12902T).