diff --git a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
index a226e99948b3..17a6146b9406 100644
--- a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
+++ b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ static struct symbol *__clone_symbol(struct elf *elf, struct symbol *patched_sym
 			size_t size;
 
 			/* bss doesn't have data */
-			if (patched_sym->sec->data->d_buf)
+			if (patched_sym->sec->data && patched_sym->sec->data->d_buf)
 				data = patched_sym->sec->data->d_buf + patched_sym->offset;
 
 			if (is_sec_sym(patched_sym))