This article investigates the relation between cooperation in innovation activities and innovation before and during the last economic recession. We find that cooperation in innovation activities has a stronger relation with radical innovation performance during the economic recession than before, this being true irrespectively of whether the partners are national or international. This benefit from cooperation during the economic turmoil is higher in the case of firms having different types of partners simultaneously. We also find that past cooperation in innovation activities is positively associated to innovation performance during the crisis.