diff --git a/lib/libkldelf/ef_obj.c b/lib/libkldelf/ef_obj.c
--- a/lib/libkldelf/ef_obj.c
+++ b/lib/libkldelf/ef_obj.c
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@
 	size_t i, nshdr;
 	int error, pb, ra, rl;
 	int j, nsym, symstrindex, symtabindex;
+	bool incorelayout;
 
 	hdr = &efile->ef_hdr;
 	if (hdr->e_type != ET_REL || hdr->e_shnum == 0 || hdr->e_shoff == 0 ||
@@ -285,6 +286,7 @@
 	ef = calloc(1, sizeof(*ef));
 	if (ef == NULL)
 		return (errno);
+	incorelayout = (efile->ef_flags & KELF_F_OINCORELAYOUT) != 0;
 
 	efile->ef_ef = ef;
 	efile->ef_ops = &ef_obj_file_ops;
@@ -304,9 +306,16 @@
 	symtabindex = -1;
 	symstrindex = -1;
 	for (i = 0; i < nshdr; i++) {
+		if (incorelayout && shdr[i].sh_size == 0)
+			continue;
 		switch (shdr[i].sh_type) {
 		case SHT_PROGBITS:
 		case SHT_NOBITS:
+		case SHT_X86_64_UNWIND:
+		case SHT_INIT_ARRAY:
+		case SHT_FINI_ARRAY:
+			if (incorelayout && (shdr[i].sh_flags & SHF_ALLOC) == 0)
+				break;
 			ef->nprogtab++;
 			break;
 		case SHT_SYMTAB:
@@ -385,9 +394,16 @@
 	ra = 0;
 	mapbase = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < nshdr; i++) {
+		if (incorelayout && shdr[i].sh_size == 0)
+			continue;
 		switch (shdr[i].sh_type) {
 		case SHT_PROGBITS:
 		case SHT_NOBITS:
+		case SHT_X86_64_UNWIND:
+		case SHT_INIT_ARRAY:
+		case SHT_FINI_ARRAY:
+			if (incorelayout && (shdr[i].sh_flags & SHF_ALLOC) == 0)
+				break;
 			mapbase = roundup2(mapbase, shdr[i].sh_addralign);
 			ef->progtab[pb].addr = mapbase;
 			if (shdr[i].sh_type == SHT_PROGBITS) {
diff --git a/lib/libkldelf/elf.c b/lib/libkldelf/elf.c
--- a/lib/libkldelf/elf.c
+++ b/lib/libkldelf/elf.c
@@ -63,12 +63,14 @@
 }
 
 int
-elf_open_file(struct elf_file *efile, const char *filename, int verbose)
+elf_open_file(struct elf_file *efile, const char *filename, unsigned int flags,
+    int verbose)
 {
 	int error;
 
 	memset(efile, 0, sizeof(*efile));
 	efile->ef_filename = filename;
+	efile->ef_flags = flags;
 	efile->ef_fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
 	if (efile->ef_fd == -1) {
 		if (verbose)
diff --git a/lib/libkldelf/kldelf.h b/lib/libkldelf/kldelf.h
--- a/lib/libkldelf/kldelf.h
+++ b/lib/libkldelf/kldelf.h
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@
 	elf_reloc_t *ef_reloc;
 	GElf_Ehdr ef_hdr;
 	size_t ef_pointer_size;
+	unsigned int ef_flags;
 	int ef_fd;
 };
 
@@ -153,12 +154,15 @@
  * use libelf.
  */
 
+/* For an object file, load the image as how it is loaded by kernel linker */
+#define KELF_F_OINCORELAYOUT	(1 << 1u)
+
 /*
  * Open an ELF file with libelf.  Populates fields other than ef_ef
  * and ef_ops in '*efile'.
  */
 int	elf_open_file(struct elf_file *efile, const char *filename,
-    int verbose);
+    unsigned int flags, int verbose);
 
 /* Close an ELF file. */
 void	elf_close_file(struct elf_file *efile);
diff --git a/usr.sbin/kldxref/kldxref.c b/usr.sbin/kldxref/kldxref.c
--- a/usr.sbin/kldxref/kldxref.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/kldxref/kldxref.c
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@
 	if (verbose || dflag)
 		printf("%s\n", filename);
 
-	error = elf_open_file(&ef, filename, verbose);
+	error = elf_open_file(&ef, filename, 0, verbose);
 	if (error != 0)
 		return (error);