diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
index 0c0f60cad7693..cd5dd6619214c 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ static int btf_sanity_check(const struct btf *btf)
 	__u32 i, n = btf__type_cnt(btf);
 	int err;
 
-	for (i = 1; i < n; i++) {
+	for (i = btf->start_id; i < n; i++) {
 		t = btf_type_by_id(btf, i);
 		err = btf_validate_type(btf, t, i);
 		if (err)