diff --git a/src/common/linux/elfutils.cc b/src/common/linux/elfutils.cc
index ce9e9c1c..aa95357a 100644
--- a/src/common/linux/elfutils.cc
+++ b/src/common/linux/elfutils.cc
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ void FindElfClassSection(const char* elf_base,
   const Ehdr* elf_header = reinterpret_cast<const Ehdr*>(elf_base);
   assert(elf_header->e_ident[EI_CLASS] == ElfClass::kClass);
 
+  if (elf_header->e_shoff == 0) {
+    *section_start = NULL;
+    *section_size = 0;
+    return;
+  }
+
   const Shdr* sections =
     GetOffset<ElfClass, Shdr>(elf_header, elf_header->e_shoff);
   const Shdr* section_names = sections + elf_header->e_shstrndx;