diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
index 2e2523d8bb6d2..8f9e7d281225c 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
@@ -6067,7 +6067,7 @@ load_program(struct bpf_program *prog, struct bpf_insn *insns, int insns_cnt,
 		free(log_buf);
 		goto retry_load;
 	}
-	ret = -errno;
+	ret = errno ? -errno : -LIBBPF_ERRNO__LOAD;
 	cp = libbpf_strerror_r(errno, errmsg, sizeof(errmsg));
 	pr_warn("load bpf program failed: %s\n", cp);
 	pr_perm_msg(ret);