diff --git a/scripts/mod/modpost.c b/scripts/mod/modpost.c
index 5a5b3780456f..5a77efd39b3f 100644
--- a/scripts/mod/modpost.c
+++ b/scripts/mod/modpost.c
@@ -1204,6 +1204,30 @@ static int secref_whitelist(const struct sectioncheck *mismatch,
 	return 1;
 }
 
+static inline int is_arm_mapping_symbol(const char *str)
+{
+	return str[0] == '$' && strchr("axtd", str[1])
+	       && (str[2] == '\0' || str[2] == '.');
+}
+
+/*
+ * If there's no name there, ignore it; likewise, ignore it if it's
+ * one of the magic symbols emitted used by current ARM tools.
+ *
+ * Otherwise if find_symbols_between() returns those symbols, they'll
+ * fail the whitelist tests and cause lots of false alarms ... fixable
+ * only by merging __exit and __init sections into __text, bloating
+ * the kernel (which is especially evil on embedded platforms).
+ */
+static inline int is_valid_name(struct elf_info *elf, Elf_Sym *sym)
+{
+	const char *name = elf->strtab + sym->st_name;
+
+	if (!name || !strlen(name))
+		return 0;
+	return !is_arm_mapping_symbol(name);
+}
+
 /**
  * Find symbol based on relocation record info.
  * In some cases the symbol supplied is a valid symbol so
@@ -1229,6 +1253,8 @@ static Elf_Sym *find_elf_symbol(struct elf_info *elf, Elf64_Sword addr,
 			continue;
 		if (ELF_ST_TYPE(sym->st_info) == STT_SECTION)
 			continue;
+		if (!is_valid_name(elf, sym))
+			continue;
 		if (sym->st_value == addr)
 			return sym;
 		/* Find a symbol nearby - addr are maybe negative */
@@ -1247,30 +1273,6 @@ static Elf_Sym *find_elf_symbol(struct elf_info *elf, Elf64_Sword addr,
 		return NULL;
 }
 
-static inline int is_arm_mapping_symbol(const char *str)
-{
-	return str[0] == '$' && strchr("axtd", str[1])
-	       && (str[2] == '\0' || str[2] == '.');
-}
-
-/*
- * If there's no name there, ignore it; likewise, ignore it if it's
- * one of the magic symbols emitted used by current ARM tools.
- *
- * Otherwise if find_symbols_between() returns those symbols, they'll
- * fail the whitelist tests and cause lots of false alarms ... fixable
- * only by merging __exit and __init sections into __text, bloating
- * the kernel (which is especially evil on embedded platforms).
- */
-static inline int is_valid_name(struct elf_info *elf, Elf_Sym *sym)
-{
-	const char *name = elf->strtab + sym->st_name;
-
-	if (!name || !strlen(name))
-		return 0;
-	return !is_arm_mapping_symbol(name);
-}
-
 /*
  * Find symbols before or equal addr and after addr - in the section sec.
  * If we find two symbols with equal offset prefer one with a valid name.