diff --git a/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.cc b/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.cc
index f45df6f08fae0..8e501f702f16c 100644
--- a/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.cc
+++ b/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.cc
@@ -108,11 +108,16 @@ allocation_constraints partition_allocator::default_constraints() {
  * with partitions that cannot be re-accommodated on smaller peers).
  */
 std::error_code partition_allocator::check_cluster_limits(
-  const uint64_t new_partitions_replicas_requested) const {
+  const uint64_t new_partitions_replicas_requested,
+  const model::topic_namespace& topic) const {
     if (_members.local().nodes().empty()) {
         // Empty members table, we're probably running in a unit test
         return errc::success;
     }
+    if (allocation_node::is_internal_topic(_internal_kafka_topics, topic)) {
+        return errc::success;
+    }
+
     // Calculate how many partition-replicas already exist, so that we can
     // check if the new topic would take us past any limits.
     uint64_t existent_partitions{0};
@@ -242,7 +247,7 @@ partition_allocator::allocate(simple_allocation_request simple_req) {
     const uint64_t create_count
       = static_cast<uint64_t>(simple_req.additional_partitions)
         * static_cast<uint64_t>(simple_req.replication_factor);
-    auto cluster_errc = check_cluster_limits(create_count);
+    auto cluster_errc = check_cluster_limits(create_count, simple_req.tp_ns);
     if (cluster_errc) {
         co_return cluster_errc;
     }
@@ -274,7 +279,7 @@ partition_allocator::allocate(allocation_request request) {
         }
     }
 
-    auto cluster_errc = check_cluster_limits(create_count);
+    auto cluster_errc = check_cluster_limits(create_count, request._nt);
     if (cluster_errc) {
         co_return cluster_errc;
     }
diff --git a/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.h b/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.h
index 14545c5951b4c..2574da6f30b78 100644
--- a/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.h
+++ b/src/v/cluster/scheduling/partition_allocator.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "cluster/scheduling/types.h"
 #include "config/property.h"
 #include "features/fwd.h"
+#include "model/metadata.h"
 
 namespace cluster {
 
@@ -145,7 +146,8 @@ class partition_allocator {
     // new_partitions_replicas_requested represents the total number of
     // partitions requested by a request. i.e. partitions * replicas requested.
     std::error_code check_cluster_limits(
-      const uint64_t new_partitions_replicas_requested) const;
+      const uint64_t new_partitions_replicas_requested,
+      const model::topic_namespace& topic) const;
 
     ss::future<result<allocation_units::pointer>>
       do_allocate(allocation_request);
diff --git a/src/v/cluster/tests/partition_allocator_tests.cc b/src/v/cluster/tests/partition_allocator_tests.cc
index 80ac265f1b95c..8ef3382213671 100644
--- a/src/v/cluster/tests/partition_allocator_tests.cc
+++ b/src/v/cluster/tests/partition_allocator_tests.cc
@@ -194,6 +194,28 @@ FIXTURE_TEST(allocation_over_capacity, partition_allocator_fixture) {
       allocator().allocate(make_allocation_request(int_2, 1, 1)).get());
 }
 
+FIXTURE_TEST(
+  allocation_over_capacity_without_shard0, partition_allocator_fixture) {
+    // Disable shard0 reservations
+    partitions_reserve_shard0.update(0);
+
+    register_node(0, 6);
+    register_node(1, 6);
+    register_node(2, 6);
+
+    saturate_all_machines();
+    auto gr = allocator().state().last_group_id();
+    BOOST_REQUIRE(
+      allocator().allocate(make_allocation_request(1, 1)).get().has_error());
+    // group id hasn't changed
+    BOOST_REQUIRE_EQUAL(allocator().state().last_group_id(), gr);
+
+    // Make the topic internal and retry, should work.
+    kafka_internal_topics.update({tn.tp()});
+    BOOST_REQUIRE(allocator().allocate(make_allocation_request(1, 1)).get());
+    BOOST_REQUIRE_GT(allocator().state().last_group_id(), gr);
+}
+
 FIXTURE_TEST(max_allocation, partition_allocator_fixture) {
     register_node(0, 2);
     register_node(1, 2);