The 26-year-old provided the decisive contribution moments after being introduced as a half-time substitute, scoring from a tight angle after being played in by Alvaro Pereira.
And Uruguay subsequently saw off a valiant push from the visitors in order to secure a confidence-boosting win in Montevideo ahead of their crucial clash with Venezuela next week.
Both Walter Tabarez and Didier Deschamps' line-ups provided shock omissions from the forward line, with Suarez and Karim Benzema benched by their managers.
And thus it was perhaps no surprise that the first real chance of the game fell to a defender, with Martin Caceres nodding a corner narrowly over 10 minutes in.
That opportunity was quickly followed by another, but this time it was the visitors who went close as Mathieu Valbuena's long-distance effort was palmed away well by Fernando Muslera.
The Uruguay goalkeeper was the busier of the two in the first half, also dealing with strikes from Blaise Matuidi and Yoann Gourcuff well, but the strength of his performance ensured the scores remained level.
Tabarez made a number of changes during the half-time break, with Suarez's introduction in place of Diego Forlan the most prominent of those.
It would take just five minutes for that decision to pay off, as the Liverpool forward produced a brilliant finish to give his side the lead.
Pereira's fine pass found the striker, and he saw off the challenge of Eliaquim Mangala before finding the far corner with the outside of his boot from a tight angle.
Uruguay appeared a team transformed following the break, but their fluency - and that of France - slowly ebbed from the game as both managers made a slew of substitutions.
And there was little to shout about in the closing stages in terms of chances as a result, with Yohan Cabaye's half volley, which went narrowly wide, the only opportunity of note for either team.