Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of liverworts with an estimated 1800 species in about 73 genera. The systematic position of a number of taxa in the family remains ambiguous owing to the lack of molecular data and morphological observations especially on oil bodies and ocelli in fresh samples. Drepanolejeunea brunnea Mizut. and Lepidolejeunea borneensis (Steph.) R.M.Schust. are two examples of these taxa. Here we investigate the phylogenetic relationships of these two species by using the nuclear ribosomal ITS region and two chloroplast regions (rbcL, trnL–trnF). The molecular data show that Drepanolejeunea brunnea and Lepidolejeunea borneensis form a well-supported clade unrelated to Drepanolejeunea (Spruce) Steph. and Lepidolejeunea R.M.Schust. On the basis of the combined molecular-phylogenetic and morphological data, a new genus in the subtribe Lepidolejeuneinae, Mohamedia R.L.Zhu et L.Shu, is described to accommodate Drepanolejeunea brunnea and Lepidolejeunea borneensis. Mohamedia is closely related to Otolejeunea Tixier endemic to Madagascar, but differs in the thinner stem with only 3(–4) rows of medullary cells, perianths with 4–5 crenulate to weakly dentate keels and without auricles, and lack of an unbroken row of ocelli in leaf lobes. Two new subgenera, Mohamedia subg. Mohamedia and Mohamedia subg. Piippolejeunea R.L.Zhu et L.Shu, are described and the new combinations (Mohamedia brunnea (Mizut.) R.L.Zhu et L.Shu and M. borneensis (Steph.) R.L.Zhu et L.Shu) are proposed.