diff --git a/package/kmod/kmod.mk b/package/kmod/kmod.mk
index f79a492847..46c8ea9357 100644
--- a/package/kmod/kmod.mk
+++ b/package/kmod/kmod.mk
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ KMOD_DEPENDENCIES += xz
 KMOD_CONF_OPT += --with-xz
 endif
 
+# --gc-sections triggers a bug in the current Xtensa binutils
+ifeq ($(BR2_xtensa),y)
+KMOD_CONF_ENV += cc_cv_LDFLAGS__Wl___gc_sections=no
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_KMOD_TOOLS),y)
 
 # add license info for kmod tools