Using the theory of non-commutative rings, this paper studies the delay identification of nonlinear time-delay systems with unknown inputs. A sufficient condition is given in order to deduce an output delay equation from the studied system. Then necessary and sufficient conditions are proposed to judge whether the deduced output delay equation can be used to identify delay involved in this equation. Two different cases are discussed for the dependent and independent outputs, respectively. The presented result is applied to identify delay in a biological system. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.