diff --git a/drivers/remoteproc/imx_dsp_rproc.c b/drivers/remoteproc/imx_dsp_rproc.c
index 5130a35214c9..f51deaacc700 100644
--- a/drivers/remoteproc/imx_dsp_rproc.c
+++ b/drivers/remoteproc/imx_dsp_rproc.c
@@ -1242,6 +1242,15 @@ static int imx_dsp_suspend(struct device *dev)
 	if (rproc->state != RPROC_RUNNING)
 		goto out;
 
+	/*
+	 * No channel available for sending messages;
+	 * indicates no mailboxes present, so trigger PM runtime suspend
+	 */
+	if (!priv->tx_ch) {
+		dev_dbg(dev, "No initialized mbox tx channel, suspend directly.\n");
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	reinit_completion(&priv->pm_comp);
 
 	/* Tell DSP that suspend is happening */