diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 88682cb0a9..c2aaf421da 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -1949,7 +1949,8 @@ sub process {
 		}
 
 # no C99 // comments
-		if ($line =~ m{//}) {
+		if ($line =~ m{//} &&
+		    $rawline !~ m{// SPDX-License-Identifier: }) {
 			ERROR("do not use C99 // comments\n" . $herecurr);
 		}
 		# Remove C99 comments.