diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/Makefile
index 9c27b67bc7b1395ba2ca8a4235245347633eca09..617ae55c3bb5b5b0fc8bef1e73b42a4b43a528a9 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ else
 GENDIR := $(abspath ../../../../include/generated)
 endif
 GENHDR := $(GENDIR)/autoconf.h
-HOSTPKG_CONFIG := pkg-config
+PKG_CONFIG ?= $(CROSS_COMPILE)pkg-config
 
 ifneq ($(wildcard $(GENHDR)),)
   GENFLAGS := -DHAVE_GENHDR
@@ -29,13 +29,17 @@ SAN_CFLAGS	?=
 SAN_LDFLAGS	?= $(SAN_CFLAGS)
 RELEASE		?=
 OPT_FLAGS	?= $(if $(RELEASE),-O2,-O0)
+
+LIBELF_CFLAGS	:= $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) libelf --cflags 2>/dev/null)
+LIBELF_LIBS	:= $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) libelf --libs 2>/dev/null || echo -lelf)
+
 CFLAGS += -g $(OPT_FLAGS) -rdynamic					\
 	  -Wall -Werror 						\
-	  $(GENFLAGS) $(SAN_CFLAGS)					\
+	  $(GENFLAGS) $(SAN_CFLAGS) $(LIBELF_CFLAGS)			\
 	  -I$(CURDIR) -I$(INCLUDE_DIR) -I$(GENDIR) -I$(LIBDIR)		\
 	  -I$(TOOLSINCDIR) -I$(APIDIR) -I$(OUTPUT)
 LDFLAGS += $(SAN_LDFLAGS)
-LDLIBS += -lelf -lz -lrt -lpthread
+LDLIBS += $(LIBELF_LIBS) -lz -lrt -lpthread
 
 ifneq ($(LLVM),)
 # Silence some warnings when compiled with clang
@@ -219,9 +223,9 @@ $(OUTPUT)/urandom_read: urandom_read.c urandom_read_aux.c $(OUTPUT)/liburandom_r
 
 $(OUTPUT)/sign-file: ../../../../scripts/sign-file.c
 	$(call msg,SIGN-FILE,,$@)
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(shell $(HOSTPKG_CONFIG) --cflags libcrypto 2> /dev/null) \
+	$(Q)$(CC) $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --cflags libcrypto 2> /dev/null) \
 		  $< -o $@ \
-		  $(shell $(HOSTPKG_CONFIG) --libs libcrypto 2> /dev/null || echo -lcrypto)
+		  $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --libs libcrypto 2> /dev/null || echo -lcrypto)
 
 $(OUTPUT)/bpf_testmod.ko: $(VMLINUX_BTF) $(RESOLVE_BTFIDS) $(wildcard bpf_testmod/Makefile bpf_testmod/*.[ch])
 	$(call msg,MOD,,$@)
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/README.rst b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/README.rst
index cb9b95702ac6de9bb1808c784649d2a677acc9c4..9af79c7a9b58d47e23da9ca8f1e21734d95f9b0b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/README.rst
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/README.rst
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ In case of linker errors when running selftests, try using static linking:
 
 .. code-block:: console
 
-  $ LDLIBS=-static vmtest.sh
+  $ LDLIBS=-static PKG_CONFIG='pkg-config --static' vmtest.sh
 
 .. note:: Some distros may not support static linking.