diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
index 8a5fbcf8b24d..8f7cd9855c22 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
@@ -991,6 +991,7 @@ static struct btf *btf_new_empty(struct btf *base_btf)
 		btf->base_btf = base_btf;
 		btf->start_id = btf__type_cnt(base_btf);
 		btf->start_str_off = base_btf->hdr->str_len;
+		btf->swapped_endian = base_btf->swapped_endian;
 	}
 
 	/* +1 for empty string at offset 0 */