A Gram-positive, catalase and oxidase positive, rod-shaped bacteria, and spore-forming, designated as J20-3(T) was isolated from a peat soil, collected near a coal mine at Prokopyevsk, (GPS; N53°52'51″, E86°43'39″) Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. A polyphasic taxonomy study using phenotypic, phylogenetic, and genotypic method was performed to characterize strain J20-3(T). Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain J20-3(T) represented a novel subline within the genus Cohnella in the family Paenibacillaceae. According to 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain J20-3(T) showed 93.7-97.2 % similarity levels with other Cohnella species. Strain J20-3(T) exhibited relatively low level of DNA-DNA hybridization value with type strains KACC 11643(T) (40 %), KACC 11771(T) (37.5 %), and KACC 15372(T) (30.5 %). The strain showed typical chemotaxonomic characteristic of the genus Cohnella, with the presence of predominant respiratory quinone MK-7; major fatty acids are C15:0, C16:0, iso, and C16:0. The DNA G+C content of the strain J20-3(T) was 56.3 mol%. The polar lipid profile of the strain J20-3(T) included major amount of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphoatidylethanolamine. On the basis of its phenotypic and genotypic properties, and its phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain J20-3(T) should be classified as a novel species in the genus Cohnella, for which the name Cohnella humi sp. nov. is proposed.