diff --git a/src/libbpf.c b/src/libbpf.c
index 91980d4..d210749 100644
--- a/src/libbpf.c
+++ b/src/libbpf.c
@@ -151,6 +151,23 @@ static inline __u64 ptr_to_u64(const void *ptr)
 	return (__u64) (unsigned long) ptr;
 }
 
+/* this goes away in libbpf 1.0 */
+enum libbpf_strict_mode libbpf_mode = LIBBPF_STRICT_NONE;
+
+int libbpf_set_strict_mode(enum libbpf_strict_mode mode)
+{
+	/* __LIBBPF_STRICT_LAST is the last power-of-2 value used + 1, so to
+	 * get all possible values we compensate last +1, and then (2*x - 1)
+	 * to get the bit mask
+	 */
+	if (mode != LIBBPF_STRICT_ALL
+	    && (mode & ~((__LIBBPF_STRICT_LAST - 1) * 2 - 1)))
+		return errno = EINVAL, -EINVAL;
+
+	libbpf_mode = mode;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 enum kern_feature_id {
 	/* v4.14: kernel support for program & map names. */
 	FEAT_PROG_NAME,
diff --git a/src/libbpf.h b/src/libbpf.h
index d985235..6e61342 100644
--- a/src/libbpf.h
+++ b/src/libbpf.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include <linux/bpf.h>
 
 #include "libbpf_common.h"
+#include "libbpf_legacy.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/src/libbpf.map b/src/libbpf.map
index 0229e01..bbe99b1 100644
--- a/src/libbpf.map
+++ b/src/libbpf.map
@@ -370,3 +370,8 @@ LIBBPF_0.4.0 {
 		bpf_tc_hook_destroy;
 		bpf_tc_query;
 } LIBBPF_0.3.0;
+
+LIBBPF_0.5.0 {
+	global:
+		libbpf_set_strict_mode;
+} LIBBPF_0.4.0;
diff --git a/src/libbpf_legacy.h b/src/libbpf_legacy.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7482cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libbpf_legacy.h
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (LGPL-2.1 OR BSD-2-Clause) */
+
+/*
+ * Libbpf legacy APIs (either discouraged or deprecated, as mentioned in [0])
+ *
+ *   [0] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UyjTZuPFWiPFyKk1tV5an11_iaRuec6U-ZESZ54nNTY
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 Facebook
+ */
+#ifndef __LIBBPF_LEGACY_BPF_H
+#define __LIBBPF_LEGACY_BPF_H
+
+#include <linux/bpf.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include "libbpf_common.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+enum libbpf_strict_mode {
+	/* Turn on all supported strict features of libbpf to simulate libbpf
+	 * v1.0 behavior.
+	 * This will be the default behavior in libbpf v1.0.
+	 */
+	LIBBPF_STRICT_ALL = 0xffffffff,
+
+	/*
+	 * Disable any libbpf 1.0 behaviors. This is the default before libbpf
+	 * v1.0. It won't be supported anymore in v1.0, please update your
+	 * code so that it handles LIBBPF_STRICT_ALL mode before libbpf v1.0.
+	 */
+	LIBBPF_STRICT_NONE = 0x00,
+
+	__LIBBPF_STRICT_LAST,
+};
+
+LIBBPF_API int libbpf_set_strict_mode(enum libbpf_strict_mode mode);
+
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+} /* extern "C" */
+#endif
+
+#endif /* __LIBBPF_LEGACY_BPF_H */