diff --git a/modutils/modutils.c b/modutils/modutils.c
index f7ad5e8058fe..037d609e42df 100644
--- a/modutils/modutils.c
+++ b/modutils/modutils.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  */
 #include "modutils.h"
 
+#include <elf.h>
 #include <sys/syscall.h>
 
 #define init_module(mod, len, opts) syscall(__NR_init_module, mod, len, opts)
@@ -186,6 +187,33 @@ void* FAST_FUNC try_to_mmap_module(const char *filename, size_t *image_size_p)
 }
 #endif
 
+#ifdef __NR_finit_module
+/*
+ * Return:
+ * 0 on success,
+ * <0 for error.
+ *
+ * finit_module()/init_module() only accepts ELF format.
+ * Do basic ELF check to avoid calling finit_module() with compressed module.
+ */
+static int check_elf_header(int fd)
+{
+	unsigned char buf[EI_NIDENT];
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = pread(fd, buf, sizeof(buf), 0);
+	if (ret < sizeof(buf))
+		return -EIO;
+	if (buf[EI_MAG0] != ELFMAG0 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG1] != ELFMAG1 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG2] != ELFMAG2 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG3] != ELFMAG3)
+		return -EINVAL;
+	/* Other more comprehensive check will be done inside kernel */
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 /* Return:
  * 0 on success,
  * -errno on open/read error,
@@ -212,12 +240,19 @@ int FAST_FUNC bb_init_module(const char *filename, const char *options)
 	 * to only allow loading of modules off of secure storage (like a read-
 	 * only rootfs) which needs the finit_module call.  If it fails, we fall
 	 * back to normal module loading to support compressed modules.
+	 *
+	 * Note that finit_module()/init_module() only accept ELF image, do
+	 * basic check before calling finit_module() to avoid kernel
+	 * complaining.
 	 */
 # ifdef __NR_finit_module
 	{
 		int fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
 		if (fd >= 0) {
-			rc = finit_module(fd, options, 0) != 0;
+			if (!check_elf_header(fd))
+				rc = finit_module(fd, options, 0) != 0;
+			else
+				rc = 1;
 			close(fd);
 			if (rc == 0)
 				return rc;

diff --git a/modutils/modprobe-small.c b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
index db44a2ed0ab5..d2cd6a64c1d0 100644
--- a/modutils/modprobe-small.c
+++ b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 //kbuild:lib-$(CONFIG_MODPROBE_SMALL) += modprobe-small.o
 
 #include "libbb.h"
+#include <elf.h> /* for ELF header magic */
 /* After libbb.h, since it needs sys/types.h on some systems */
 #include <sys/utsname.h> /* uname() */
 #include <fnmatch.h>
@@ -249,6 +250,33 @@ static const char *moderror(int err)
 	}
 }
 
+#ifdef __NR_finit_module
+/*
+ * Return:
+ * 0 on success,
+ * <0 for error.
+ *
+ * finit_module()/init_module() only accepts ELF format.
+ * Do basic ELF check to avoid calling finit_module() with compressed module.
+ */
+static int check_elf_header(int fd)
+{
+	unsigned char buf[EI_NIDENT];
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = pread(fd, buf, sizeof(buf), 0);
+	if (ret < sizeof(buf))
+		return -EIO;
+	if (buf[EI_MAG0] != ELFMAG0 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG1] != ELFMAG1 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG2] != ELFMAG2 ||
+	    buf[EI_MAG3] != ELFMAG3)
+		return -EINVAL;
+	/* Other more comprehensive check will be done inside kernel */
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 static int load_module(const char *fname, const char *options)
 {
 #if 1
@@ -272,7 +300,10 @@ static int load_module(const char *fname, const char *options)
 	{
 		int fd = open(fname, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
 		if (fd >= 0) {
-			r = finit_module(fd, options, 0) != 0;
+			if (!check_elf_header(fd))
+				r = finit_module(fd, options, 0) != 0;
+			else
+				r = 1;
 			close(fd);
 		}
 	}
-- 
2.29.2