diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index 5f3799dcba01..ab5aa5497666 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -4474,6 +4474,10 @@ int bpf_check(struct bpf_prog **prog, union bpf_attr *attr)
 	struct bpf_verifer_log *log;
 	int ret = -EINVAL;
 
+	/* no program is valid */
+	if (ARRAY_SIZE(bpf_verifier_ops) == 0)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	/* 'struct bpf_verifier_env' can be global, but since it's not small,
 	 * allocate/free it every time bpf_check() is called
 	 */