A 36-year-old female who initially presented with a small erythematous and swollen abscess on her left anterior tibial area was found out to have a cutaneous Mycobacterium abscessus infection. She was first treated with incision and drainage, dressing, and antibiotics. The lesion began to be aggravated and dispersed. Neither aerobic nor anaerobic bacteria was grown on blood agar plate. After a few weeks, Mycobacterium grew on Ogawa media after 6 days, and was identified as M. abscessus by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. She was then treated with clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and amikacin, and the skin lesion was resolved without further recurrence. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2005;8(2):198-201)