This plant was originally described in 1987 as "Musa dechangensis J. L. Liu & M. G. Liu, Act. Bot. Yunnan. 9: 163. 1987. Syn. nov. TYPE: China. Sichuan: Dechang, Xiaogao, 1380 m, 2 Dec. 1984, J. L. Liu & J. Q. Xiao 179 (holotype, XIAS)."

Then in 1997 Wu Te-lin reduced it to synonymy with Musa balbisiana stating "Musa dechangensis is indistinguishable from M. balbisiana in almost all aspects of bracts, fruit, and seeds. The slight differences given by the authors can be observed within M. balbisiana and, therefore, do not support the recognition of this variant as an independent species."

Most recently, Liu et al studied herbarium material of Musa dechangensis and now consider it to be identical with Musa basjoo.  They consider Wu's analysis to have been flawed.