The Javan leafbird was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[2][3] Gmelin based his account on "Le verdin de la Cochinchine" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his multi-volume work Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.

[4] A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published separately to accompany Buffon's text.

As the Javan leafbird is a primarily lowland-dwelling species, it is at high risk of severe overexploitation as its entire range is accessible to trappers.

There have been reports of loss of C. cochinchinensis from previously-occupied sites while the habitat remains unchanged, indicating the risks that trapping poses to the species.