diff --git a/scripts/x86-relocs.c b/scripts/x86-relocs.c
index 02914706e5b9..74e16bb15dc4 100644
--- a/scripts/x86-relocs.c
+++ b/scripts/x86-relocs.c
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ static const char * const sym_regex_kernel[S_NSYMTYPES] = {
 
 
 static const char * const sym_regex_realmode[S_NSYMTYPES] = {
+/*
+ * These symbols are known to be relative, even if the linker marks them
+ * as absolute (typically defined outside any section in the linker script.)
+ */
+	[S_REL] =
+	"^pa_",
+
 /*
  * These are 16-bit segment symbols when compiling 16-bit code.
  */