 Along with other chats, this species was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but based on studies published in 2004 and 2010, the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is now preferred.The mountain wheatear was formerly placed in the genus "Oenanthe".Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2010 and 2012 found that the species was not closely related to the other members of "Oenanthe" and instead was genetically similar to the chats in the genus "Myrmecocichla".