A species diversity study of lactic acid bacteria occurring in traditional Vietnamese nem chua yielded an isolate, LMG 26767^T, that could not be assigned to a species with a validly published name. The isolate was initially investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, which revealed that it belonged to the genus Lactobacillus , with Lactobacillus manihotivorans and Lactobacillus camelliae as the closest relatives (98.9 % and 96.9 % gene sequence similarity to the type strains, respectively). Comparative (GTG)₅-PCR genomic fingerprinting confirmed the unique taxonomic status of the novel strain. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments, DNA G+C content determination, sequence analysis of the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase (pheS) gene, and physiological and biochemical characterization demonstrated that strain LMG 26767^T represents a novel species, for which the name Lactobacillus porcinae sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is LMG 26767^T ( = CCUG 62266^T). Biochemically, L. porcinae can be distinguished from L. manihotivorans and L. camelliae by its carbohydrate fermentation profile, absence of growth at 45 °C, and production of d- and l-lactate as end products of glucose metabolism.