diff --git a/src/libbpf.c b/src/libbpf.c
index 2f351d3..8d61025 100644
--- a/src/libbpf.c
+++ b/src/libbpf.c
@@ -1194,7 +1194,8 @@ static int bpf_object__elf_init(struct bpf_object *obj)
 	if (!elf_rawdata(elf_getscn(obj->efile.elf, obj->efile.shstrndx), NULL)) {
 		pr_warn("elf: failed to get section names strings from %s: %s\n",
 			obj->path, elf_errmsg(-1));
-		return -LIBBPF_ERRNO__FORMAT;
+		err = -LIBBPF_ERRNO__FORMAT;
+		goto errout;
 	}
 
 	/* Old LLVM set e_machine to EM_NONE */