diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
index a37cffb320227..ede6cb2a7e286 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/trainer/connectors/checkpoint_connector.py
@@ -49,25 +49,29 @@ def __init__(self, trainer: "pl.Trainer", resume_from_checkpoint: Optional[_PATH
         self._loaded_checkpoint: Dict[str, Any] = {}
 
     @property
-    def hpc_resume_path(self) -> Optional[str]:
+    def _hpc_resume_path(self) -> Optional[str]:
         if not os.path.isdir(self.trainer.weights_save_path):
             return None
         dir_path_hpc = str(self.trainer.weights_save_path)
         max_version = self.max_ckpt_version_in_folder(dir_path_hpc, "hpc_ckpt_")
         if max_version is not None:
             return os.path.join(dir_path_hpc, f"hpc_ckpt_{max_version}.ckpt")
-        auto_save_checkpoint = os.path.join(dir_path_hpc, ".pl_auto_save.ckpt")
-        if os.path.exists(auto_save_checkpoint):
-            return auto_save_checkpoint
+
+    @property
+    def _fault_tolerant_auto_resume_path(self) -> Optional[str]:
+        auto_saved_path = os.path.join(str(self.trainer.weights_save_path), ".pl_auto_save.ckpt")
+        if os.path.exists(auto_saved_path):
+            return auto_saved_path
 
     def resume_start(self, checkpoint_path: Optional[_PATH] = None) -> None:
         """Attempts to pre-load the checkpoint file to memory, with the source path determined in this priority:
 
         1. from HPC weights if found
-        2. from `checkpoint_path` file if provided
-        3. don't restore
+        2. from fault-tolerant auto-saved checkpoint if found
+        3. from `checkpoint_path` file if provided
+        4. don't restore
         """
-        self.resume_checkpoint_path = self.hpc_resume_path or checkpoint_path
+        self.resume_checkpoint_path = self._hpc_resume_path or self._fault_tolerant_auto_resume_path or checkpoint_path
         checkpoint_path = self.resume_checkpoint_path
         if not checkpoint_path:
             return
@@ -162,7 +166,7 @@ def restore_model(self) -> None:
 
         # TODO: remove this in v1.8.
         # call hpc specific hook
-        if self.hpc_resume_path is not None:
+        if self._hpc_resume_path is not None:
             model.on_hpc_load(self._loaded_checkpoint)
 
         # restore model state_dict
diff --git a/tests/trainer/connectors/test_checkpoint_connector.py b/tests/trainer/connectors/test_checkpoint_connector.py
index 1643d8f43cb6b..c0153638cc534 100644
--- a/tests/trainer/connectors/test_checkpoint_connector.py
+++ b/tests/trainer/connectors/test_checkpoint_connector.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def test_hpc_max_ckpt_version(tmpdir):
     trainer.save_checkpoint(tmpdir / "hpc_ckpt_3.ckpt")
     trainer.save_checkpoint(tmpdir / "hpc_ckpt_33.ckpt")
 
-    assert trainer.checkpoint_connector.hpc_resume_path == str(tmpdir / "hpc_ckpt_33.ckpt")
+    assert trainer.checkpoint_connector._hpc_resume_path == str(tmpdir / "hpc_ckpt_33.ckpt")
     assert trainer.checkpoint_connector.max_ckpt_version_in_folder(tmpdir) == 33
     assert trainer.checkpoint_connector.max_ckpt_version_in_folder(tmpdir / "not" / "existing") is None