diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
index 953929d196c3..feba071087a5 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.c
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ struct btf *btf__new_split(const void *data, __u32 size, struct btf *base_btf)
 	return libbpf_ptr(btf_new(data, size, base_btf));
 }
 
-static struct btf *btf_parse_elf(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf,
+static struct btf *btf_parse_elf(const char *path, const char *btf_sec, struct btf *base_btf,
 				 struct btf_ext **btf_ext)
 {
 	Elf_Data *btf_data = NULL, *btf_ext_data = NULL;
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ static struct btf *btf_parse_elf(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf,
 				idx, path);
 			goto done;
 		}
-		if (strcmp(name, BTF_ELF_SEC) == 0) {
+		if (strcmp(name, btf_sec) == 0) {
 			btf_data = elf_getdata(scn, 0);
 			if (!btf_data) {
 				pr_warn("failed to get section(%d, %s) data from %s\n",
@@ -1166,7 +1166,7 @@ static struct btf *btf_parse_elf(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf,
 	}
 
 	if (!btf_data) {
-		pr_warn("failed to find '%s' ELF section in %s\n", BTF_ELF_SEC, path);
+		pr_warn("failed to find '%s' ELF section in %s\n", btf_sec, path);
 		err = -ENODATA;
 		goto done;
 	}
@@ -1212,12 +1212,12 @@ static struct btf *btf_parse_elf(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf,
 
 struct btf *btf__parse_elf(const char *path, struct btf_ext **btf_ext)
 {
-	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse_elf(path, NULL, btf_ext));
+	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse_elf(path, BTF_ELF_SEC, NULL, btf_ext));
 }
 
 struct btf *btf__parse_elf_split(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf)
 {
-	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse_elf(path, base_btf, NULL));
+	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse_elf(path, BTF_ELF_SEC, base_btf, NULL));
 }
 
 static struct btf *btf_parse_raw(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf)
@@ -1293,31 +1293,48 @@ struct btf *btf__parse_raw_split(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf)
 	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse_raw(path, base_btf));
 }
 
-static struct btf *btf_parse(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf, struct btf_ext **btf_ext)
+struct btf *btf__parse_opts(const char *path, struct btf_parse_opts *opts)
 {
-	struct btf *btf;
+	struct btf *btf, *base_btf;
+	const char *btf_sec;
+	struct btf_ext **btf_ext;
 	int err;
 
+	if (!OPTS_VALID(opts, btf_parse_opts))
+		return libbpf_err_ptr(-EINVAL);
+	base_btf = OPTS_GET(opts, base_btf, NULL);
+	btf_sec = OPTS_GET(opts, btf_sec, NULL);
+	btf_ext = OPTS_GET(opts, btf_ext, NULL);
+
 	if (btf_ext)
 		*btf_ext = NULL;
-
-	btf = btf_parse_raw(path, base_btf);
+	if (!btf_sec) {
+		btf = btf_parse_raw(path, base_btf);
+		err = libbpf_get_error(btf);
+		if (!err)
+			return btf;
+		if (err != -EPROTO)
+			return libbpf_err_ptr(err);
+	}
+	btf = btf_parse_elf(path, btf_sec ?: BTF_ELF_SEC, base_btf, btf_ext);
 	err = libbpf_get_error(btf);
-	if (!err)
-		return btf;
-	if (err != -EPROTO)
-		return ERR_PTR(err);
-	return btf_parse_elf(path, base_btf, btf_ext);
+	if (err)
+		return libbpf_err_ptr(err);
+	return btf;
 }
 
 struct btf *btf__parse(const char *path, struct btf_ext **btf_ext)
 {
-	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse(path, NULL, btf_ext));
+	LIBBPF_OPTS(btf_parse_opts, opts, .btf_ext = btf_ext);
+
+	return btf__parse_opts(path, &opts);
 }
 
 struct btf *btf__parse_split(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf)
 {
-	return libbpf_ptr(btf_parse(path, base_btf, NULL));
+	LIBBPF_OPTS(btf_parse_opts, opts, .base_btf = base_btf);
+
+	return btf__parse_opts(path, &opts);
 }
 
 static void *btf_get_raw_data(const struct btf *btf, __u32 *size, bool swap_endian);
diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.h b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.h
index f3f149a09088..8e1702ad5ef4 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf.h
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #define BTF_ELF_SEC ".BTF"
 #define BTF_EXT_ELF_SEC ".BTF.ext"
+#define BTF_BASE_ELF_SEC ".BTF.base"
 #define MAPS_ELF_SEC ".maps"
 
 struct btf;
@@ -134,6 +135,36 @@ LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__parse_elf_split(const char *path, struct btf *base_b
 LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__parse_raw(const char *path);
 LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__parse_raw_split(const char *path, struct btf *base_btf);
 
+struct btf_parse_opts {
+	size_t sz;
+	/* use base BTF to parse split BTF */
+	struct btf *base_btf;
+	/* retrieve optional .BTF.ext info */
+	struct btf_ext **btf_ext;
+	/* BTF section name; if NULL, try parsing raw BTF, falling back to parsing
+	 * .BTF ELF section if that fails also.  If set, parse named ELF section.
+	 */
+	const char *btf_sec;
+	size_t :0;
+};
+
+#define btf_parse_opts__last_field btf_sec
+
+/* @brief **btf__parse_opts()** parses BTF information from either a
+ * raw BTF file (*btf_sec* is NULL) or from the specified BTF section,
+ * also retrieving  .BTF.ext info if *btf_ext* is non-NULL.  If
+ * *base_btf* is specified, use it to parse split BTF from the
+ * specified location.
+ *
+ * @return new BTF object instance which has to be eventually freed with
+ * **btf__free()**
+ *
+ * On error, NULL is returned, with the `errno` variable set to the
+ * error code.
+ */
+
+LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__parse_opts(const char *path, struct btf_parse_opts *opts);
+
 LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__load_vmlinux_btf(void);
 LIBBPF_API struct btf *btf__load_module_btf(const char *module_name, struct btf *vmlinux_btf);
 
diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.map b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.map
index 9e69d6e2a512..fd7bfeaba542 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.map
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.map
@@ -420,6 +420,7 @@ LIBBPF_1.4.0 {
 LIBBPF_1.5.0 {
 	global:
 		btf__distill_base;
+		btf__parse_opts;
 		bpf_program__attach_sockmap;
 		ring__consume_n;
 		ring_buffer__consume_n;
