diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/btf.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/btf.c
index 2afb7d5b1aca296c5752de1097b5aea5c2019965..592803af97340e4bd287d618d5d4c21b0691c5c0 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/btf.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/btf.c
@@ -519,6 +519,7 @@ static int do_dump(int argc, char **argv)
 			NEXT_ARG();
 			if (argc < 1) {
 				p_err("expecting value for 'format' option\n");
+				err = -EINVAL;
 				goto done;
 			}
 			if (strcmp(*argv, "c") == 0) {
@@ -528,11 +529,13 @@ static int do_dump(int argc, char **argv)
 			} else {
 				p_err("unrecognized format specifier: '%s', possible values: raw, c",
 				      *argv);
+				err = -EINVAL;
 				goto done;
 			}
 			NEXT_ARG();
 		} else {
 			p_err("unrecognized option: '%s'", *argv);
+			err = -EINVAL;
 			goto done;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
index 682daaa49e6a2862385f187d253a431b52963083..33068d6ed5d6c395a816991b8dd3b7beb8592dd6 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ static int do_batch(int argc, char **argv)
 	int n_argc;
 	FILE *fp;
 	char *cp;
-	int err;
+	int err = 0;
 	int i;
 
 	if (argc < 2) {
@@ -368,7 +368,6 @@ static int do_batch(int argc, char **argv)
 	} else {
 		if (!json_output)
 			printf("processed %d commands\n", lines);
-		err = 0;
 	}
 err_close:
 	if (fp != stdin)
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
index a7efbd84fbcc44310f25d2d2139a999fca7b3eea..ce6faf1b90e83b0e92a26ba9733e331eea37220e 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ static int do_dump_btf(const struct btf_dumper *d,
 		       void *value)
 {
 	__u32 value_id;
-	int ret;
+	int ret = 0;
 
 	/* start of key-value pair */
 	jsonw_start_object(d->jw);