diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol-minimal.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol-minimal.c
index f4b0a711a62c..0a71d1463952 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol-minimal.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol-minimal.c
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ int filename__read_build_id(const char *filename, struct build_id *bid)
 			continue;
 
 		p_filesz = elf32 ? hdrs.phdr32[i].p_filesz : hdrs.phdr64[i].p_filesz;
+		/* ssize_t can go negative with crafted ELF p_filesz values */
+		if (p_filesz <= 0)
+			continue;
 		if (p_filesz > buf_size) {
 			void *tmp;