The crested roundleaf bat was described as a new species in 1954 by Eleanor M. O. Laurie and John Edwards Hill.

As the genus Hipposideros is very speciose, it is divided into species groups based on morphology.

[2] Laurie and Hill considered it to be very large compared to other members of the diadema species group.

They wrote that its nose-leaf and ears were similar in appearance to those of the fierce roundleaf bat, H. dinops.

It meets the criteria for this classification because it is a poorly known species and any threats that it faces are unknown.