diff --git a/kernel/bpf/btf.c b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
index 95a050446f27..8c684a0e1c4b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
@@ -7973,6 +7973,7 @@ int bpf_core_apply(struct bpf_core_ctx *ctx, const struct bpf_core_relo *relo,
 	struct bpf_core_cand_list cands = {};
 	struct bpf_core_relo_res targ_res;
 	struct bpf_core_spec *specs;
+	const struct btf_type *type;
 	int err;
 
 	/* ~4k of temp memory necessary to convert LLVM spec like "0:1:0:5"
@@ -7982,6 +7983,13 @@ int bpf_core_apply(struct bpf_core_ctx *ctx, const struct bpf_core_relo *relo,
 	if (!specs)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	type = btf_type_by_id(ctx->btf, relo->type_id);
+	if (!type) {
+		bpf_log(ctx->log, "relo #%u: bad type id %u\n",
+			relo_idx, relo->type_id);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (need_cands) {
 		struct bpf_cand_cache *cc;
 		int i;