diff --git a/src/libbpf.c b/src/libbpf.c
index 8f480e2..8e1dc69 100644
--- a/src/libbpf.c
+++ b/src/libbpf.c
@@ -7006,7 +7006,7 @@ int bpf_prog_load_xattr(const struct bpf_prog_load_attr *attr,
 	err = bpf_object__load(obj);
 	if (err) {
 		bpf_object__close(obj);
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return err;
 	}
 
 	*pobj = obj;