diff --git a/drivers/usb/host/xhci-pci.c b/drivers/usb/host/xhci-pci.c
index 7bc18cf8042cc..119d1a8fbb194 100644
--- a/drivers/usb/host/xhci-pci.c
+++ b/drivers/usb/host/xhci-pci.c
@@ -631,7 +631,14 @@ static const struct pci_device_id pci_ids[] = {
 	{ /* end: all zeroes */ }
 };
 MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(pci, pci_ids);
+
+/*
+ * Without CONFIG_USB_XHCI_PCI_RENESAS renesas_xhci_check_request_fw() won't
+ * load firmware, so don't encumber the xhci-pci driver with it.
+ */
+#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_USB_XHCI_PCI_RENESAS)
 MODULE_FIRMWARE("renesas_usb_fw.mem");
+#endif
 
 /* pci driver glue; this is a "new style" PCI driver module */
 static struct pci_driver xhci_pci_driver = {