diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/prog.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/prog.c
index 7e0b846e17ee..21817eb51039 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/prog.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/prog.c
@@ -1707,6 +1707,10 @@ static int load_with_options(int argc, char **argv, bool first_prog_only)
 	}
 
 	if (pinmaps) {
+		err = create_and_mount_bpffs_dir(pinmaps);
+		if (err)
+			goto err_unpin;
+
 		err = bpf_object__pin_maps(obj, pinmaps);
 		if (err) {
 			p_err("failed to pin all maps");