diff --git a/RELEASENOTES.md b/RELEASENOTES.md
index 24262cb949..b3d72a23b0 100644
--- a/RELEASENOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASENOTES.md
@@ -199,6 +199,9 @@
     Services rather than Cronet Embedded. This allows Cronet to be used with a
     negligible increase in application size, compared to approximately 8MB when
     embedding the library.
+*   MediaSession extension: Set session playback state to BUFFERING only when
+    actually playing ([#7367](https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/pull/7367),
+    [#7206](https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/issues/7206)).
 
 ### 2.11.4 (2020-04-08)
 
diff --git a/extensions/mediasession/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/ext/mediasession/MediaSessionConnector.java b/extensions/mediasession/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/ext/mediasession/MediaSessionConnector.java
index fc75d4f549..b74ad9701f 100644
--- a/extensions/mediasession/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/ext/mediasession/MediaSessionConnector.java
+++ b/extensions/mediasession/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/ext/mediasession/MediaSessionConnector.java
@@ -946,7 +946,9 @@ public final class MediaSessionConnector {
       @Player.State int exoPlayerPlaybackState, boolean playWhenReady) {
     switch (exoPlayerPlaybackState) {
       case Player.STATE_BUFFERING:
-        return PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_BUFFERING;
+        return playWhenReady
+            ? PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_BUFFERING
+            : PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PAUSED;
       case Player.STATE_READY:
         return playWhenReady ? PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PLAYING : PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PAUSED;
       case Player.STATE_ENDED: