diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
index f082a5ad7cf1d47d127086111de8f6b1a8ac5acc..5c3642b3f802df5363d453350f421a37cc23ad25 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
index c6b8c77f7d12e82f1ccd4f106a9ee2df34e5f5ff..5e98c6d2b9aae89e9a6b8f0111552e65709ab7ef 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
index b2d56ab9e615d3262c1a2b757c465f1d5b41b007..d35dcd6f8d82a784414e3521945cff3b42644a49 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
index 18ecb7d90cbe5f3baf464987be6eb09d3f8ae948..4727c067e2ba361ef1271a5afaac0307b10e744f 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: ethtool
 
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
index cff104288723bb9dfb723c0a47a038b10b9db6d6..3e13826a3fdf18c746c59ae35f9c48af434488de 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: fou
 
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
index 753e5914a8b7cb5b9fbfe87f6c892c5e33f99086..b99e7ffef7a1578f837e96047ddd0e4967adbed8 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: netdev
 
diff --git a/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
index 2122e0c4a39987c4fdf86a1d4fbbcb954d1813ce..a22442ba1d30bb4bfeae33bf85a71458d235f7ba 100644
--- a/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
+++ b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ YAML specifications can be found under ``Documentation/netlink/specs/``
 This document describes details of the schema.
 See :doc:`intro-specs` for a practical starting guide.
 
-All specs must be licensed under ``GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-3-Clause``
+All specs must be licensed under
+``((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)``
 to allow for easy adoption in user space code.
 
 Compatibility levels
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/fou.h b/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
index 5041c3598493874ce15b554d03e04df4f3c518d3..b5cd3e7b3775a61690ce5998b6fe379de34b9e01 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h b/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
index ed134fbdfd32d3351226300f0a725414f04ade2a..639524b59930bfcabcd0d352048a3fd4aa1da08b 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
index 9e10802587fc3c3057eda5c1786ac3f6fef7b9bb..3abab70d66ddc8a3342dfe6c3f94f2eff9bb3a79 100644
--- a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
+++ b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel source */
diff --git a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
index 2c5fc7d1e8a741e3ba2e7c3332ec4f436225c6d4..74d74fc23167988996d56107771e90e9a3cc7e0e 100644
--- a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
+++ b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel header */
diff --git a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
index 5c14fe030eda555ebfc25e2e073b550ad40495ef..6c37c4f98ccab403e29740f41003b3696df7250f 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel source */
diff --git a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
index 58b1e1ed4b3bb3cb6855c74b4c87f8d5876b7b07..dbd0780a5d34c3963681c1d7f0aaf579fc186e5e 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
+++ b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel header */
diff --git a/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h b/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
index ed134fbdfd32d3351226300f0a725414f04ade2a..639524b59930bfcabcd0d352048a3fd4aa1da08b 100644
--- a/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
+++ b/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py b/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
index 960a356e8225e63360a820b6e9f7230e2986e3e0..d04450c2a44af866ef30cf6892a9d0d956c02b92 100644
--- a/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
+++ b/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
 
     Attributes:
         proto     protocol type (e.g. genetlink)
+        license   spec license (loaded from an SPDX tag on the spec)
 
         attr_sets  dict of attribute sets
         msgs       dict of all messages (index by name)
@@ -283,6 +284,13 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
     """
     def __init__(self, spec_path, schema_path=None):
         with open(spec_path, "r") as stream:
+            prefix = '# SPDX-License-Identifier: '
+            first = stream.readline().strip()
+            if not first.startswith(prefix):
+                raise Exception('SPDX license tag required in the spec')
+            self.license = first[len(prefix):]
+
+            stream.seek(0)
             spec = yaml.safe_load(stream)
 
         self._resolution_list = []
@@ -387,7 +395,8 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
     def resolve(self):
         self.resolve_up(super())
 
-        for elem in self.yaml['definitions']:
+        definitions = self.yaml.get('definitions', [])
+        for elem in definitions:
             if elem['type'] == 'enum' or elem['type'] == 'flags':
                 self.consts[elem['name']] = self.new_enum(elem)
             else:
diff --git a/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py b/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
index d47376f19de72a19e7c3d54315d74afa9f7c668f..c16671a02621bfbbe8018985d614c4766ea7fed0 100755
--- a/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
+++ b/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 import argparse
 import collections
@@ -2059,6 +2059,10 @@ def main():
 
     try:
         parsed = Family(args.spec)
+        if parsed.license != '((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)':
+            print('Spec license:', parsed.license)
+            print('License must be: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)')
+            os.sys.exit(1)
     except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
         print(exc)
         os.sys.exit(1)
@@ -2067,13 +2071,10 @@ def main():
     cw = CodeWriter(BaseNlLib(), out_file)
 
     _, spec_kernel = find_kernel_root(args.spec)
-    if args.mode == 'uapi':
-        cw.p('/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */')
+    if args.mode == 'uapi' or args.header:
+        cw.p(f'/* SPDX-License-Identifier: {parsed.license} */')
     else:
-        if args.header:
-            cw.p('/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */')
-        else:
-            cw.p('// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause')
+        cw.p(f'// SPDX-License-Identifier: {parsed.license}')
     cw.p("/* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */")
     cw.p(f"/*\t{spec_kernel} */")
     cw.p(f"/* YNL-GEN {args.mode} {'header' if args.header else 'source'} */")