A non-motile, Gram-stain-negative bacterium, designated R-HLS-17(T), was isolated from the meltwater of Hailuogou Glacier located in Sichuan province, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Flavobacterium, with the closest relatives being Flavobacterium antarcticum JCM 12383(T) (95.5% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), F. omnivorum JCM 11313(T) (95.0%) and F. fryxellicola LMG 22022(T) (95.2%). Growth occurred at 0-29 °C (optimum, 10-20 °C) and pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum, 7.0-8.0). The DNA G+C content was 46.5 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15:0, iso-C15:1 G, summed feature 9 (comprising iso-C17:1ω9c and/or 10-methyl C16:0), iso-C17:0 3-OH and iso-C15:0 3-OH. The predominant menaquinone was MK-6. Based on the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, we propose that strain R-HLS-17(T) represents a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, Flavobacterium noncentrifugens sp. nov. The type strain is R-HLS-17(T) (=CGMCC 1.10076(T)=NBRC 108844(T)).