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We investigated antimicrobial susceptibility and the molecular mechanism involved in conferring high-level macrolide resistance in 47 clinical isolates of Moraxella nonliquefaciens from Japan. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using Etest and agar dilution methods. Thirty-two erythromycin-non-susceptible strains were evaluated for the possibility of clonal spreading, using PFGE. To analyse the mechanism related to macrolide resistance, mutations in the 23S rRNA gene and the ribosomal proteins, and the presence of methylase genes were investigated by PCR and sequencing. The efflux system was examined using appropriate inhibitors. Penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, cefixime, levofloxacin and antimicrobials containing β-lactamase inhibitors showed strong activity against 47 M. nonliquefaciens isolates. Thirty-two (68.1 %) of the 47 isolates showed high-level MICs to macrolides (MIC ≥128 mg l−1) and shared the A2058T mutation in the 23S rRNA gene. The geometric mean MIC to macrolides of A2058T-mutated strains was significantly higher than that of WT strains (PM. nonliquefaciens strains, 43 (91.5 %) were bro-1 and 4 (8.5 %) were bro-2 positive. Our results suggest that most M. nonliquefaciens clinical isolates show high-level macrolide resistance conferred by the A2058T mutation in the 23S rRNA gene. This study represents the first characterization of M. nonliquefaciens.