diff --git a/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c b/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
index ac4cc8c085cb..0346a8b2fdce 100644
--- a/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
+++ b/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
@@ -714,11 +714,6 @@ link_elf_load_file(linker_class_t cls, const char *filename,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (symstrindex == -1) {
-		link_elf_error(filename, "lost symbol string index");
-		error = ENOEXEC;
-		goto out;
-	}
 	/* Allocate space for and load the symbol strings */
 	ef->ddbstrcnt = shdr[symstrindex].sh_size;
 	ef->ddbstrtab = malloc(shdr[symstrindex].sh_size, M_LINKER, M_WAITOK);