diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile b/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
index eca584fb061e..269fe21fc8da 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/Makefile
@@ -115,12 +115,12 @@ PC_FILE		:= $(addprefix $(OUTPUT),$(PC_FILE))
 
 TAGS_PROG := $(if $(shell which etags 2>/dev/null),etags,ctags)
 
-GLOBAL_SYM_COUNT = $(shell readelf -s --wide $(BPF_IN_SHARED) | \
+GLOBAL_SYM_COUNT = $(shell $(HOSTREADELF) -s --wide $(BPF_IN_SHARED) | \
 			   cut -d "@" -f1 | sed 's/_v[0-9]_[0-9]_[0-9].*//' | \
 			   sed 's/\[.*\]//' | \
 			   awk '/GLOBAL/ && /DEFAULT/ && !/UND|ABS/ {print $$NF}' | \
 			   sort -u | wc -l)
-VERSIONED_SYM_COUNT = $(shell readelf --dyn-syms --wide $(OUTPUT)libbpf.so | \
+VERSIONED_SYM_COUNT = $(shell $(HOSTREADELF) --dyn-syms --wide $(OUTPUT)libbpf.so | \
 			      sed 's/\[.*\]//' | \
 			      awk '/GLOBAL/ && /DEFAULT/ && !/UND|ABS/ {print $$NF}' | \
 			      grep -Eo '[^ ]+@LIBBPF_' | cut -d@ -f1 | sort -u | wc -l)
@@ -183,12 +183,12 @@ check_abi: $(OUTPUT)libbpf.so $(VERSION_SCRIPT)
 		     "versioned symbols in $^ ($(VERSIONED_SYM_COUNT))." \
 		     "Please make sure all LIBBPF_API symbols are"	 \
 		     "versioned in $(VERSION_SCRIPT)." >&2;		 \
-		readelf -s --wide $(BPF_IN_SHARED) |			 \
+		$(HOSTREADELF) -s --wide $(BPF_IN_SHARED) |		 \
 		    cut -d "@" -f1 | sed 's/_v[0-9]_[0-9]_[0-9].*//' |	 \
 		    sed 's/\[.*\]//' |					 \
 		    awk '/GLOBAL/ && /DEFAULT/ && !/UND/ {print $$NF}'|  \
 		    sort -u > $(OUTPUT)libbpf_global_syms.tmp;		 \
-		readelf --dyn-syms --wide $(OUTPUT)libbpf.so |		 \
+		$(HOSTREADELF) --dyn-syms --wide $(OUTPUT)libbpf.so |	 \
 		    sed 's/\[.*\]//' |					 \
 		    awk '/GLOBAL/ && /DEFAULT/ && !/UND|ABS/ {print $$NF}'|  \
 		    grep -Eo '[^ ]+@LIBBPF_' | cut -d@ -f1 |		 \
diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 0031112c036e..d5ffc69d7374 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -215,7 +215,6 @@ FLEX    ?= flex
 BISON   ?= bison
 STRIP   = strip
 AWK     = awk
-READELF ?= readelf
 
 # include Makefile.config by default and rule out
 # non-config cases
diff --git a/tools/scripts/Makefile.include b/tools/scripts/Makefile.include
index e81e5b479c56..46a3872b8762 100644
--- a/tools/scripts/Makefile.include
+++ b/tools/scripts/Makefile.include
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ ifneq ($(LLVM),)
   $(call allow-override,LLC,$(LLVM_PREFIX)llc$(LLVM_SUFFIX))
   $(call allow-override,LLVM_CONFIG,$(LLVM_PREFIX)llvm-config$(LLVM_SUFFIX))
   $(call allow-override,LLVM_OBJCOPY,$(LLVM_PREFIX)llvm-objcopy$(LLVM_SUFFIX))
+  $(call allow-override,READELF,$(LLVM_PREFIX)llvm-readelf$(LLVM_SUFFIX))
+  $(call allow-override,HOSTREADELF,$(LLVM_PREFIX)llvm-readelf$(LLVM_SUFFIX))
 else
   # Allow setting various cross-compile vars or setting CROSS_COMPILE as a prefix.
   $(call allow-override,CC,$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc)
@@ -80,11 +82,13 @@ else
   $(call allow-override,LD,$(CROSS_COMPILE)ld)
   $(call allow-override,CXX,$(CROSS_COMPILE)g++)
   $(call allow-override,STRIP,$(CROSS_COMPILE)strip)
+  $(call allow-override,READELF,$(CROSS_COMPILE)readelf)
 
   # Host versions aren't prefixed
   $(call allow-override,HOSTAR,ar)
   $(call allow-override,HOSTCC,gcc)
   $(call allow-override,HOSTLD,ld)
+  $(call allow-override,HOSTREADELF,readelf)
 
   # Some tools still require Clang, LLC and/or LLVM utils
   $(call allow-override,CLANG,clang)