diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/bpftool_helpers.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/bpftool_helpers.c
index 0a2a4f0a2794..c49fdd90eb03 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/bpftool_helpers.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/bpftool_helpers.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ static int run_command(char *args, char *output_buf, size_t output_max_len)
 	static char bpftool_path[PATH_MAX] = {};
 	bool suppress_output = !(output_buf && output_max_len);
 	char command[BPFTOOL_FULL_CMD_MAX_LEN];
+	size_t n;
 	FILE *f;
 	int ret;
 
@@ -68,8 +69,10 @@ static int run_command(char *args, char *output_buf, size_t output_max_len)
 	if (!f)
 		return 1;
 
-	if (!suppress_output)
-		fread(output_buf, 1, output_max_len, f);
+	if (!suppress_output) {
+		n = fread(output_buf, 1, output_max_len - 1, f);
+		output_buf[n] = '\0';
+	}
 	ret = pclose(f);
 
 	return ret;