diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/.gitignore b/tools/bpf/bpftool/.gitignore
index 26cde83e1ca3..ce721adf3161 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/.gitignore
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
 *.d
-/_bpftool
+/bpftool-bootstrap
 /bpftool
 bpftool*.8
 bpf-helpers.*
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Makefile b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Makefile
index 9e85f101be85..eec2da4d45d2 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Makefile
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Makefile
@@ -116,40 +116,36 @@ CFLAGS += -DHAVE_LIBBFD_SUPPORT
 SRCS += $(BFD_SRCS)
 endif
 
+BPFTOOL_BOOTSTRAP := $(if $(OUTPUT),$(OUTPUT)bpftool-bootstrap,./bpftool-bootstrap)
+
+BOOTSTRAP_OBJS = $(addprefix $(OUTPUT),main.o common.o json_writer.o gen.o btf.o)
 OBJS = $(patsubst %.c,$(OUTPUT)%.o,$(SRCS)) $(OUTPUT)disasm.o
-_OBJS = $(filter-out $(OUTPUT)prog.o,$(OBJS)) $(OUTPUT)_prog.o
 
-ifeq ($(feature-clang-bpf-global-var),1)
-	__OBJS = $(OBJS)
-else
-	__OBJS = $(_OBJS)
+ifneq ($(feature-clang-bpf-global-var),1)
+	CFLAGS += -DBPFTOOL_WITHOUT_SKELETONS
 endif
 
-$(OUTPUT)_prog.o: prog.c
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -DBPFTOOL_WITHOUT_SKELETONS -o $@ $<
-
-$(OUTPUT)_bpftool: $(_OBJS) $(LIBBPF)
-	$(QUIET_LINK)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(_OBJS) $(LIBS)
-
 skeleton/profiler.bpf.o: skeleton/profiler.bpf.c $(LIBBPF)
 	$(QUIET_CLANG)$(CLANG) \
 		-I$(srctree)/tools/include/uapi/ \
 		-I$(LIBBPF_PATH) -I$(srctree)/tools/lib \
 		-g -O2 -target bpf -c $< -o $@
 
-profiler.skel.h: $(OUTPUT)_bpftool skeleton/profiler.bpf.o
-	$(QUIET_GEN)$(OUTPUT)./_bpftool gen skeleton skeleton/profiler.bpf.o > $@
+profiler.skel.h: $(BPFTOOL_BOOTSTRAP) skeleton/profiler.bpf.o
+	$(QUIET_GEN)$(BPFTOOL_BOOTSTRAP) gen skeleton skeleton/profiler.bpf.o > $@
 
 $(OUTPUT)prog.o: prog.c profiler.skel.h
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -o $@ $<
 
 $(OUTPUT)disasm.o: $(srctree)/kernel/bpf/disasm.c
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -o $@ $<
 
 $(OUTPUT)feature.o: | zdep
 
-$(OUTPUT)bpftool: $(__OBJS) $(LIBBPF)
-	$(QUIET_LINK)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(__OBJS) $(LIBS)
+$(BPFTOOL_BOOTSTRAP): $(BOOTSTRAP_OBJS) $(LIBBPF)
+	$(QUIET_LINK)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(BOOTSTRAP_OBJS) $(LIBS)
+
+$(OUTPUT)bpftool: $(OBJS) $(LIBBPF)
+	$(QUIET_LINK)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJS) $(LIBS)
 
 $(OUTPUT)%.o: %.c
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -o $@ $<
@@ -157,7 +153,7 @@ $(OUTPUT)%.o: %.c
 clean: $(LIBBPF)-clean
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, bpftool)
 	$(Q)$(RM) -- $(OUTPUT)bpftool $(OUTPUT)*.o $(OUTPUT)*.d
-	$(Q)$(RM) -- $(OUTPUT)_bpftool profiler.skel.h skeleton/profiler.bpf.o
+	$(Q)$(RM) -- $(BPFTOOL_BOOTSTRAP) profiler.skel.h skeleton/profiler.bpf.o
 	$(Q)$(RM) -r -- $(OUTPUT)libbpf/
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, core-gen)
 	$(Q)$(RM) -- $(OUTPUT)FEATURE-DUMP.bpftool
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
index 46bd716a9d86..bf4d7487552a 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.c
@@ -92,9 +92,16 @@ int cmd_select(const struct cmd *cmds, int argc, char **argv,
 	if (argc < 1 && cmds[0].func)
 		return cmds[0].func(argc, argv);
 
-	for (i = 0; cmds[i].func; i++)
-		if (is_prefix(*argv, cmds[i].cmd))
+	for (i = 0; cmds[i].cmd; i++) {
+		if (is_prefix(*argv, cmds[i].cmd)) {
+			if (!cmds[i].func) {
+				p_err("command '%s' is not supported in bootstrap mode",
+				      cmds[i].cmd);
+				return -1;
+			}
 			return cmds[i].func(argc - 1, argv + 1);
+		}
+	}
 
 	help(argc - 1, argv + 1);
 
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
index 4338ab9d86d4..aad7be74e8a7 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
@@ -194,19 +194,22 @@ int mount_bpffs_for_pin(const char *name);
 int do_pin_any(int argc, char **argv, int (*get_fd_by_id)(int *, char ***));
 int do_pin_fd(int fd, const char *name);
 
-int do_prog(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_map(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_link(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_event_pipe(int argc, char **argv);
-int do_cgroup(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_perf(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_net(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_tracelog(int argc, char **arg);
-int do_feature(int argc, char **argv);
-int do_btf(int argc, char **argv);
+/* commands available in bootstrap mode */
 int do_gen(int argc, char **argv);
-int do_struct_ops(int argc, char **argv);
-int do_iter(int argc, char **argv);
+int do_btf(int argc, char **argv);
+
+/* non-bootstrap only commands */
+int do_prog(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_map(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_link(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_event_pipe(int argc, char **argv) __weak;
+int do_cgroup(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_perf(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_net(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_tracelog(int argc, char **arg) __weak;
+int do_feature(int argc, char **argv) __weak;
+int do_struct_ops(int argc, char **argv) __weak;
+int do_iter(int argc, char **argv) __weak;
 
 int parse_u32_arg(int *argc, char ***argv, __u32 *val, const char *what);
 int prog_parse_fd(int *argc, char ***argv);