diff --git a/drivers/bluetooth/hci/h5.c b/drivers/bluetooth/hci/h5.c
index cf35f8cb50a..3a6b7b0c767 100644
--- a/drivers/bluetooth/hci/h5.c
+++ b/drivers/bluetooth/hci/h5.c
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ static const u8_t conf_rsp[] = { 0x04, 0x7b };
 /* H5 signal buffers pool */
 #define MAX_SIG_LEN	3
 #define SIGNAL_COUNT	2
-#define SIG_BUF_SIZE (CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE + MAX_SIG_LEN)
+#define SIG_BUF_SIZE (BT_BUF_RESERVE + MAX_SIG_LEN)
 NET_BUF_POOL_DEFINE(h5_pool, SIGNAL_COUNT, SIG_BUF_SIZE, 0, NULL);
 
 static struct device *h5_dev;
diff --git a/include/bluetooth/buf.h b/include/bluetooth/buf.h
index 0cc138a4721..0d25f6de3c1 100644
--- a/include/bluetooth/buf.h
+++ b/include/bluetooth/buf.h
@@ -37,8 +37,14 @@ enum bt_buf_type {
 /** Minimum amount of user data size for buffers passed to the stack. */
 #define BT_BUF_USER_DATA_MIN 8
 
+#if defined(CONFIG_BT_HCI_RAW)
+#define BT_BUF_RESERVE MAX(CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RAW_RESERVE)
+#else
+#define BT_BUF_RESERVE CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE
+#endif
+
 /** Data size neeed for HCI RX buffers */
-#define BT_BUF_RX_SIZE (CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE + CONFIG_BT_RX_BUF_LEN)
+#define BT_BUF_RX_SIZE (BT_BUF_RESERVE + CONFIG_BT_RX_BUF_LEN)
 
 /** Allocate a buffer for incoming data
  *
diff --git a/include/bluetooth/l2cap.h b/include/bluetooth/l2cap.h
index 2696ddab439..e55202e6421 100644
--- a/include/bluetooth/l2cap.h
+++ b/include/bluetooth/l2cap.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ extern "C" {
  *
  *   @return Needed buffer size to match the requested L2CAP MTU.
  */
-#define BT_L2CAP_BUF_SIZE(mtu) (CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE + \
+#define BT_L2CAP_BUF_SIZE(mtu) (BT_BUF_RESERVE + \
 				BT_HCI_ACL_HDR_SIZE + BT_L2CAP_HDR_SIZE + \
 				(mtu))
 
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ struct bt_l2cap_chan_ops {
 /** @def BT_L2CAP_CHAN_SEND_RESERVE
  *  @brief Headroom needed for outgoing buffers
  */
-#define BT_L2CAP_CHAN_SEND_RESERVE (CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE + 4 + 4)
+#define BT_L2CAP_CHAN_SEND_RESERVE (BT_BUF_RESERVE + 4 + 4)
 
 /** @brief L2CAP Server structure. */
 struct bt_l2cap_server {
diff --git a/subsys/bluetooth/Kconfig b/subsys/bluetooth/Kconfig
index 8d94cf8675f..8c8915915d6 100644
--- a/subsys/bluetooth/Kconfig
+++ b/subsys/bluetooth/Kconfig
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ config BT_HCI_RAW
 	  This option allows to access Bluetooth controller
 	  from the application with the RAW HCI protocol.
 
+config BT_HCI_RAW_RESERVE
+	int "Buffer headroom needed for HCI transport"
+	depends on BT_HCI_RAW
+	default 0
+	help
+	  This option is used by the HCI raw transport implementation to
+	  declare how much headroom it needs for any HCI transport headers.
+
 config BT_PERIPHERAL
 	bool "Peripheral Role support"
 	select BT_BROADCASTER
diff --git a/subsys/bluetooth/host/conn.c b/subsys/bluetooth/host/conn.c
index e9c0c6010ce..a835914baca 100644
--- a/subsys/bluetooth/host/conn.c
+++ b/subsys/bluetooth/host/conn.c
@@ -2326,7 +2326,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_conn_create_pdu_timeout(struct net_buf_pool *pool,
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	reserve += sizeof(struct bt_hci_acl_hdr) + CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE;
+	reserve += sizeof(struct bt_hci_acl_hdr) + BT_BUF_RESERVE;
 	net_buf_reserve(buf, reserve);
 
 	return buf;
diff --git a/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c
index 7f3045b8444..e42f81a948c 100644
--- a/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c
+++ b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_hci_cmd_create(u16_t opcode, u8_t param_len)
 
 	BT_DBG("buf %p", buf);
 
-	net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+	net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 
 	cmd(buf)->type = BT_BUF_CMD;
 	cmd(buf)->opcode = opcode;
@@ -6023,7 +6023,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_buf_get_rx(enum bt_buf_type type, s32_t timeout)
 #endif
 
 	if (buf) {
-		net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+		net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 		bt_buf_set_type(buf, type);
 	}
 
@@ -6045,7 +6045,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_buf_get_cmd_complete(s32_t timeout)
 	if (buf) {
 		bt_buf_set_type(buf, BT_BUF_EVT);
 		buf->len = 0U;
-		net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+		net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 
 		return buf;
 	}
@@ -6063,7 +6063,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_buf_get_evt(u8_t evt, bool discardable, s32_t timeout)
 
 			buf = net_buf_alloc(&num_complete_pool, timeout);
 			if (buf) {
-				net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+				net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 				bt_buf_set_type(buf, BT_BUF_EVT);
 			}
 
@@ -6080,7 +6080,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_buf_get_evt(u8_t evt, bool discardable, s32_t timeout)
 
 			buf = net_buf_alloc(&discardable_pool, timeout);
 			if (buf) {
-				net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+				net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 				bt_buf_set_type(buf, BT_BUF_EVT);
 			}
 
diff --git a/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_raw.c b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_raw.c
index f6a1d9650a7..9a9385b7916 100644
--- a/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_raw.c
+++ b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_raw.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ struct net_buf *bt_buf_get_rx(enum bt_buf_type type, s32_t timeout)
 	buf = net_buf_alloc(&hci_rx_pool, timeout);
 
 	if (buf) {
-		net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+		net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 		bt_buf_set_type(buf, type);
 	}
 
diff --git a/subsys/bluetooth/host/rfcomm_internal.h b/subsys/bluetooth/host/rfcomm_internal.h
index 3b176b77fcc..dc4bf0a521a 100644
--- a/subsys/bluetooth/host/rfcomm_internal.h
+++ b/subsys/bluetooth/host/rfcomm_internal.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ struct bt_rfcomm_rpn {
  * Length in rfcomm header can be two bytes depending on user data length.
  * One byte in the tail should be reserved for FCS.
  */
-#define BT_RFCOMM_BUF_SIZE(mtu) (CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE + \
+#define BT_RFCOMM_BUF_SIZE(mtu) (BT_BUF_RESERVE + \
 				 BT_HCI_ACL_HDR_SIZE + BT_L2CAP_HDR_SIZE + \
 				 sizeof(struct bt_rfcomm_hdr) + 1 + (mtu) + \
 				 BT_RFCOMM_FCS_SIZE)
diff --git a/subsys/usb/class/bluetooth.c b/subsys/usb/class/bluetooth.c
index 3fccf09a177..bb1c0b449d3 100644
--- a/subsys/usb/class/bluetooth.c
+++ b/subsys/usb/class/bluetooth.c
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ static void acl_read_cb(u8_t ep, int size, void *priv)
 	buf = net_buf_alloc(&acl_tx_pool, K_FOREVER);
 	__ASSERT_NO_MSG(buf);
 
-	net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+	net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 
 	/* Start a new read transfer */
 	usb_transfer(bluetooth_ep_data[HCI_OUT_EP_IDX].ep_addr, buf->data,
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ static int bluetooth_class_handler(struct usb_setup_packet *setup,
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
-	net_buf_reserve(buf, CONFIG_BT_HCI_RESERVE);
+	net_buf_reserve(buf, BT_BUF_RESERVE);
 	bt_buf_set_type(buf, BT_BUF_CMD);
 
 	net_buf_add_mem(buf, *data, *len);