diff --git a/kernel/bpf/btf.c b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
index 9a1a98dd9e97c7c9576ec78513e6ced95f7bb4ae..0443600146dc27edd385e5c7dd594b087605a012 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
@@ -4058,6 +4058,11 @@ static int __btf_resolve_helper_id(struct bpf_verifier_log *log, void *fn,
 	const char *tname, *sym;
 	u32 btf_id, i;
 
+	if (!btf_vmlinux) {
+		bpf_log(log, "btf_vmlinux doesn't exist\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (IS_ERR(btf_vmlinux)) {
 		bpf_log(log, "btf_vmlinux is malformed\n");
 		return -EINVAL;