The hosts were looking to produce a response after being thrashed 5-1 by Stuttgart last weekend, and they had the first real chance here, as Pascal Gross’ whipped cross was directed on target by Karim Adeyemi, but the effort was punched away by visiting goalkeeper Patrick Drewes, who was soon at full stretch to turn Julian Brandt’s shot behind.
However, Bochum stunned Signal Iduna Park on 16 minutes when Philipp Hofmann and Matus Bero brilliantly exchanged passes, with Bero driving unerringly into Gregor Kobel’s bottom left-hand corner.
And it got worse for Kobel soon after, as he was closed down by Myron Boadu and could only nudge the ball into the path of the grateful Dani de Wit, who swept home.
The goal stood despite valid protestations that Kobel had been impeded by Boadu, and it should have been 3-0 shortly after the half-hour mark as Boadu bore down on Kobel again after being put through by Hofmann, but unbelievably fired wide from close range.
Dortmund had to find a way back quickly, and after Brandt blazed over the bar in an attempt to spark a turnaround, he redeemed himself by floating in a cross which Serhou Guirassy powered home to halve the deficit.
The Guinean’s third goal in as many appearances seemed like a pivotal moment, and with Dortmund restarting play the stronger side, Guirassy was then brought down by ex-BVB man Felix Passlack, allowing captain Emre Can to nonchalantly convert the resulting penalty on 62 minutes.
Bochum boss Peter Zeidler immediately threw on Moritz Broschinski - also formerly of Dortmund - and he very quickly had an impact, with his snapshot shovelled away by Kobel.
Both teams believed they could snatch the three points, but it was Guirassy who displayed the killer instinct as he emphatically dispatched Adeyemi’s through ball.
Substitute Felix Nmecha removed any lingering doubts late on, as his effort from distance squirmed under a distraught Drewes.
Having mounted one of their best comebacks in recent memory, Dortmund are now unbeaten in six meetings with Bochum and sit second in the table for now.
Meanwhile, their opponents could find themselves sitting bottom of the standings by the end of this Bundesliga round.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund)