diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
index ca4432f5b067..30cb08e2eb75 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.c
@@ -2232,7 +2232,7 @@ bpf_object__load_progs(struct bpf_object *obj, int log_level)
 	for (i = 0; i < obj->nr_programs; i++) {
 		if (bpf_program__is_function_storage(&obj->programs[i], obj))
 			continue;
-		obj->programs[i].log_level = log_level;
+		obj->programs[i].log_level |= log_level;
 		err = bpf_program__load(&obj->programs[i],
 					obj->license,
 					obj->kern_version);