diff --git a/drivers/bluetooth/btusb.c b/drivers/bluetooth/btusb.c
index e1eb5dd605c23..1b0bf7b4bc2f3 100644
--- a/drivers/bluetooth/btusb.c
+++ b/drivers/bluetooth/btusb.c
@@ -4640,8 +4640,10 @@ static int btusb_suspend(struct usb_interface *intf, pm_message_t message)
 
 	BT_DBG("intf %p", intf);
 
-	/* Don't suspend if there are connections */
-	if (hci_conn_count(data->hdev))
+	/* Don't auto-suspend if there are connections; external suspend calls
+	 * shall never fail.
+	 */
+	if (PMSG_IS_AUTO(message) && hci_conn_count(data->hdev))
 		return -EBUSY;
 
 	if (data->suspend_count++)