diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/bpf_helpers.h b/tools/lib/bpf/bpf_helpers.h
index 44df982d2a5c7685a89b50b89bcd667451210f6e..5de3eb267125e96ee0ab5f8167647ce75e763f99 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/bpf_helpers.h
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/bpf_helpers.h
@@ -149,6 +149,13 @@ enum libbpf_tristate {
 
 #define __kconfig __attribute__((section(".kconfig")))
 #define __ksym __attribute__((section(".ksyms")))
+#if __has_attribute(btf_type_tag)
+#define __kptr __attribute__((btf_type_tag("kptr")))
+#define __kptr_ref __attribute__((btf_type_tag("kptr_ref")))
+#else
+#define __kptr
+#define __kptr_ref
+#endif
 
 #ifndef ___bpf_concat
 #define ___bpf_concat(a, b) a ## b