An actinobacterial strain YIM 80766T was isolated from a soil sample collected from the eastern desert of Egypt, and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. The organism was found to have a range of chemical and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Dietzia. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain YIM 80766T and the other type strains of recognized members of the genus Dietzia were 97.0-98.9%. However, DNA-DNA hybridization values and phenotypic characteristics revealed that the strain differed from the currently recognized species of the genus Dietzia. Therefore, strain YIM 80766T represents a novel species of the genus Dietzia, for which the name Dietzia lutea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 80766T ( = KCTC 19232T = DSM 45074T = CCTCC AA 207008T). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain YIM 80766T has been deposited in GenBank under the accession number EU821598.