 "Xerocomellus zelleri" was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1912, based on specimens he found on the campus of the University of Washington.Murrill named it "Ceriomyces zelleri" before switching the genus later that year to "Boletus".In 1944, Walter Henry Snell thought the taxon would be more appropriate in the genus "Xerocomus".