Huene and Sahni considered Indobrachyops to be part of the family Brachyopidae, which includes several aquatic temnospondyls with large rounded heads. However, later studies noted several features of Indobrachyops that set it apart from brachyopids, including closely spaced nostrils and a different pattern of pits and grooves on the skull roof. In 1979, J. W. Cosgriff and J. M. Zawiskie placed Indobrachyops in a new family called Indobrachyopidae along with the poorly known temnospondyls Mahavisaurus and Rewana. The lacrimal bone in the skull is an important feature in classifying stereospondyls, but its presence has been difficult to judge in the single known skull of Indobrachyops. One study suggested that it lacked a lacrimal, which it used as evidence to reclassify Indobrachyops within