diff --git a/src/backend/tty.rs b/src/backend/tty.rs
index 7b52b272dd..cf8493da6c 100644
--- a/src/backend/tty.rs
+++ b/src/backend/tty.rs
@@ -441,6 +441,14 @@ impl Tty {
         }
         .map_err(|()| anyhow!("error assigning the seat to libinput"))?;
 
+        //  If the session is not active at startup (e.g. Niri was launched from a different TTY),
+        // suspend libinput now so that when ActivateSession fires, libinput.resume() performs a
+        // full re-enumeration of input devices instead of being a no-op.
+        if !session.is_active() {
+            debug!("session is not active, starting in paused state");
+            libinput.suspend();
+        }
+
         let input_backend = LibinputInputBackend::new(libinput.clone());
         event_loop
             .insert_source(input_backend, |mut event, _, state| {