diff --git a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
index 6a148d0d51bf..e3c06b9482a2 100755
--- a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
+++ b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
@@ -96,6 +96,11 @@ gen_btf()
 {
 	local pahole_ver;
 
+	if ! [ -x "$(command -v ${PAHOLE})" ]; then
+		info "BTF" "${1}: pahole (${PAHOLE}) is not available"
+		return 0
+	fi
+
 	pahole_ver=$(${PAHOLE} --version | sed -E 's/v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)/\1\2/')
 	if [ "${pahole_ver}" -lt "113" ]; then
 		info "BTF" "${1}: pahole version $(${PAHOLE} --version) is too old, need at least v1.13"