diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
index 8bff28fc3fc9..17bc922f543f 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
@@ -7649,8 +7649,10 @@ __bpf_object__open(const char *path, const void *obj_buf, size_t obj_buf_sz,
 	kconfig = OPTS_GET(opts, kconfig, NULL);
 	if (kconfig) {
 		obj->kconfig = strdup(kconfig);
-		if (!obj->kconfig)
-			return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+		if (!obj->kconfig) {
+			err = -ENOMEM;
+			goto out;
+		}
 	}
 
 	err = bpf_object__elf_init(obj);