diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
index b46760b93bb4..7ff3d5ce44f9 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
@@ -804,6 +804,7 @@ static struct btf *btf_new(const void *data, __u32 size, struct btf *base_btf)
 	btf->nr_types = 0;
 	btf->start_id = 1;
 	btf->start_str_off = 0;
+	btf->fd = -1;
 
 	if (base_btf) {
 		btf->base_btf = base_btf;
@@ -832,8 +833,6 @@ static struct btf *btf_new(const void *data, __u32 size, struct btf *base_btf)
 	if (err)
 		goto done;
 
-	btf->fd = -1;
-
 done:
 	if (err) {
 		btf__free(btf);