diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/linker.c b/tools/lib/bpf/linker.c
index a3a190d13db8..e1b3136643aa 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/linker.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/linker.c
@@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@ static int linker_append_sec_data(struct bpf_linker *linker, struct src_obj *obj
 		} else {
 			if (!secs_match(dst_sec, src_sec)) {
 				pr_warn("ELF sections %s are incompatible\n", src_sec->sec_name);
-				return -1;
+				return -EINVAL;
 			}
 
 			/* "license" and "version" sections are deduped */
@@ -2034,7 +2034,7 @@ static int linker_append_elf_relos(struct bpf_linker *linker, struct src_obj *ob
 			}
 		} else if (!secs_match(dst_sec, src_sec)) {
 			pr_warn("sections %s are not compatible\n", src_sec->sec_name);
-			return -1;
+			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 
 		/* shdr->sh_link points to SYMTAB */