diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index 57a8e6746a42..bdb88d3f7812 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -2375,7 +2375,7 @@ config UNUSED_KSYMS_WHITELIST
 	  exported at all times, even in absence of in-tree users. The value to
 	  set here is the path to a text file containing the list of symbols,
 	  one per line. The path can be absolute, or relative to the kernel
-	  source tree.
+	  source or obj tree.
 
 endif # MODULES
 
diff --git a/scripts/gen_autoksyms.sh b/scripts/gen_autoksyms.sh
index 117cb07bd043..7dd95eafdaaf 100755
--- a/scripts/gen_autoksyms.sh
+++ b/scripts/gen_autoksyms.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ ksym_wl=
 if [ -n "$CONFIG_UNUSED_KSYMS_WHITELIST" ]; then
 	# Use 'eval' to expand the whitelist path and check if it is relative
 	eval ksym_wl="$CONFIG_UNUSED_KSYMS_WHITELIST"
-	[ "${ksym_wl}" != "${ksym_wl#/}" ] || ksym_wl="$abs_srctree/$ksym_wl"
+	[ "${ksym_wl}" != "${ksym_wl#/}" ] || [ -f "$ksym_wl" ] || ksym_wl="$abs_srctree/$ksym_wl"
 	if [ ! -f "$ksym_wl" ] || [ ! -r "$ksym_wl" ]; then
 		echo "ERROR: '$ksym_wl' whitelist file not found" >&2
 		exit 1