diff --git a/tool/build/apelink.c b/tool/build/apelink.c
index c27a3dda2..a9e341c7e 100644
--- a/tool/build/apelink.c
+++ b/tool/build/apelink.c
@@ -679,6 +679,8 @@ static void LoadSymbols(Elf64_Ehdr *e, Elf64_Off size, const char *path) {
   struct SymbolTable *st = OpenSymbolTable(path);
   if (!st)
     Die(path, "could not load elf symbol table");
+  st->names = 0;      // make this deterministic
+  st->name_base = 0;  // ready for serialization
   size_t data_size;
   void *data = Deflate(st, st->size, &data_size);
   uint32_t crc = crc32_z(0, st, st->size);