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He called the former shadow home secretary a "very strong" figure who could "contribute in the future".
But Mr Cameron added that he already had a "very strong shadow cabinet".
Mr Davis won Haltemprice and Howden on a civil liberties platform, gaining 15,355 votes. Labour and the Lib Dems did not put up candidates.
'Made his point'
Mr Davis quit as an MP in June over the government's plans to detain terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge.
At the time Mr Cameron stressed it was his personal decision - and swiftly moved to replace him as shadow home secretary with shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve.
Mr Davis, who will return to the Commons as a backbencher, said he did not plan to become a "single-issue campaigner" on civil liberties.
Asked if the Haltemprice and Howden MP will be given another shadow cabinet role, Mr Cameron said: "He can contribute in the future... I think he's made his point in the way that he wanted to.
"What matters is what's right and standing up and saying what's right as the Conservative Party, throughout this whole argument, has done."
'Authoritarian government'
Mr Cameron added: "I will obviously talk to him about what the future holds, but I've got a very strong shadow cabinet. David is a very strong Conservative figure.
"I'm sure there will be many ways he can contribute in the future."
Mr Davis, who was beaten by Mr Cameron in the contest to become party leader in 2005, said: "We have fired a shot across the bows of Gordon Brown's arrogant, arbitrary and authoritarian government."
He said he would return to Westminster on Monday with a mandate "to fight Gordon Brown's vision of Big Brother Britain tooth and nail, to stop 42 days in its tracks, to prevent the disaster of ID cards before it happens, to protect our personal privacy from being ransacked by the ever-intrusive state".
Mr Davis admitted it was unlikely Mr Cameron would invite him back onto the party's front bench.
'Cowardice'
"I took on board that I would lose my shadow cabinet post and probably my shadow cabinet future," he said. "I accept that."
Mr Davis denied that he would become a "single-issue campaigner" on the backbenches, but promised to "put a lot of effort" into opposing 42 days' detention.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The trouble with this is, from the beginning, the Westminster village hasn't really understood that someone wants to take a stand on a matter of principle that may have some effect on themselves."
Mr Davis also accused the government of "spectacular cowardice" for not fielding a candidate.
But Home Office minister Tony McNulty called the by-election had been "a vain stunt that became and remains a farce".
He added: "Labour never believed a parliamentary by-election should be held at taxpayers' expense to resolve tensions at the top of the Conservative Party."
The Green Party questioned Mr Davis's stance on some civil liberties issues - including his support for the 28-day limit on holding terror suspects without charge, increased from 14 days in 2005, and his views on capital punishment and gay rights.
Turnout Rape law campaigner Jill Saward, who stood as an independent, criticised his opposition to extending the DNA database and CCTV - which she sees as "the very tools the police need to keep us safe".
Turnout in Haltemprice and Howden was 34%, with the Green Party coming second on 1,758 votes and the English Democrats third on 1,714. The Lib Dems and Labour did not stand.
Out of a record 26 by-election candidates, 23 lost their deposits after failing to attract 5% of the vote.
At the last general election Mr Davis won the seat with a 5,116 majority.
However, the 17,113 votes he polled were fewer than the 22,792 he achieved at the 2005 election, and turnout was also down from 70.2%.
The Lib Dems - who came second in 2005 - chose not to run because they also opposed the government's plans to extend the time limit on holding terrorism suspects.
Labour refused to stand, describing the by-election as a farce and a waste of more than Ј80,000 of public money.
Other parties who contested the election included the English Democrats and Christian Party.
(BBC)
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