diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
index 45131e354e27..b0226eac7bda 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ SECTIONS
 	__initdata_end = .;
 	__init_end = .;
 
+	.data.rel.ro : { *(.data.rel.ro) }
+	ASSERT(SIZEOF(.data.rel.ro) == 0, "Unexpected RELRO detected!")
+
 	_data = .;
 	_sdata = .;
 	RW_DATA(L1_CACHE_BYTES, PAGE_SIZE, THREAD_ALIGN)
@@ -323,9 +326,6 @@ SECTIONS
 		*(.plt) *(.plt.*) *(.iplt) *(.igot .igot.plt)
 	}
 	ASSERT(SIZEOF(.plt) == 0, "Unexpected run-time procedure linkages detected!")
-
-	.data.rel.ro : { *(.data.rel.ro) }
-	ASSERT(SIZEOF(.data.rel.ro) == 0, "Unexpected RELRO detected!")
 }
 
 #include "image-vars.h"