diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
index 17883f5a44b97..b14a4376a86e6 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
@@ -1978,9 +1978,9 @@ static int bpf_object__read_kconfig_file(struct bpf_object *obj, void *data)
 		return -ENAMETOOLONG;
 
 	/* gzopen also accepts uncompressed files. */
-	file = gzopen(buf, "r");
+	file = gzopen(buf, "re");
 	if (!file)
-		file = gzopen("/proc/config.gz", "r");
+		file = gzopen("/proc/config.gz", "re");
 
 	if (!file) {
 		pr_warn("failed to open system Kconfig\n");