diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/gen.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/gen.c
index 31ade77f5ef8..440a2fcb6441 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/gen.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/gen.c
@@ -106,8 +106,10 @@ static int codegen_datasec_def(struct bpf_object *obj,
 
 	if (strcmp(sec_name, ".data") == 0) {
 		sec_ident = "data";
+		strip_mods = true;
 	} else if (strcmp(sec_name, ".bss") == 0) {
 		sec_ident = "bss";
+		strip_mods = true;
 	} else if (strcmp(sec_name, ".rodata") == 0) {
 		sec_ident = "rodata";
 		strip_mods = true;