It was formerly considered a subspecies of island thrush, but in 2024 the island thrush was split into 17 separate species by the IOC and Clements Checklist based on morphological and phylogenetics differences.

The Fiji island-thrush was formally described in 1875 by the Australian zoologist Edward Pierson Ramsay in The Sydney Morning Herald under the binomial name Merula ruficeps.

[1][2] The following year Ramsay republished his description in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.

[6] The Fiji island-thrush with its subspecies were formerly considered to be part of the island thrush complex.

Based on morphological differences and a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2023, the island thrush was split into 17 species.