diff --git a/aya-obj/src/obj.rs b/aya-obj/src/obj.rs
index f0168950..bb1a3d92 100644
--- a/aya-obj/src/obj.rs
+++ b/aya-obj/src/obj.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use alloc::{
     collections::BTreeMap,
     ffi::CString,
     string::{String, ToString},
+    vec,
     vec::Vec,
 };
 use core::{ffi::CStr, mem, ptr, slice::from_raw_parts_mut, str::FromStr};
@@ -1193,7 +1194,7 @@ fn get_map_field(btf: &Btf, type_id: u32) -> Result<u32, BtfError> {
 // bytes and are relocated based on their section index.
 fn parse_data_map_section(section: &Section) -> Result<Map, ParseError> {
     let (def, data) = match section.kind {
-        EbpfSectionKind::Bss | EbpfSectionKind::Data | EbpfSectionKind::Rodata => {
+        EbpfSectionKind::Data | EbpfSectionKind::Rodata => {
             let def = bpf_map_def {
                 map_type: BPF_MAP_TYPE_ARRAY as u32,
                 key_size: mem::size_of::<u32>() as u32,
@@ -1210,6 +1211,17 @@ fn parse_data_map_section(section: &Section) -> Result<Map, ParseError> {
             };
             (def, section.data.to_vec())
         }
+        EbpfSectionKind::Bss => {
+            let def = bpf_map_def {
+                map_type: BPF_MAP_TYPE_ARRAY as u32,
+                key_size: mem::size_of::<u32>() as u32,
+                value_size: section.size as u32,
+                max_entries: 1,
+                map_flags: 0,
+                ..Default::default()
+            };
+            (def, vec![0; section.size as usize])
+        }
         _ => unreachable!(),
     };
     Ok(Map::Legacy(LegacyMap {
diff --git a/aya/src/maps/mod.rs b/aya/src/maps/mod.rs
index 6f36b6b3..bb641288 100644
--- a/aya/src/maps/mod.rs
+++ b/aya/src/maps/mod.rs
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ impl MapData {
 
     pub(crate) fn finalize(&mut self) -> Result<(), MapError> {
         let Self { obj, fd } = self;
-        if !obj.data().is_empty() && obj.section_kind() != EbpfSectionKind::Bss {
+        if !obj.data().is_empty() {
             bpf_map_update_elem_ptr(fd.as_fd(), &0 as *const _, obj.data_mut().as_mut_ptr(), 0)
                 .map_err(|(_, io_error)| SyscallError {
                     call: "bpf_map_update_elem",