diff --git a/xen/common/livepatch.c b/xen/common/livepatch.c
index edf56a357f..d385f882c6 100644
--- a/xen/common/livepatch.c
+++ b/xen/common/livepatch.c
@@ -300,9 +300,6 @@ static int move_payload(struct payload *payload, struct livepatch_elf *elf)
          * and .shstrtab. For the non-relocate we allocate and copy these
          * via other means - and the .rel we can ignore as we only use it
          * once during loading.
-         *
-         * Also ignore sections with zero size. Those can be for example:
-         * data, or .bss.
          */
         if ( livepatch_elf_ignore_section(elf->sec[i].sec) )
             offset[i] = UINT_MAX;
@@ -361,8 +358,17 @@ static int move_payload(struct payload *payload, struct livepatch_elf *elf)
             else if ( elf->sec[i].sec->sh_flags & SHF_WRITE )
             {
                 buf = rw_buf;
-                rw_buf_sec = i;
-                rw_buf_cnt++;
+                if ( elf->sec[i].sec->sh_size )
+                {
+                    /*
+                     * Special handling of RW empty regions: do not account for
+                     * them in order to decide whether a patch can safely be
+                     * re-applied, but assign them a load address so symbol
+                     * resolution and relocations work.
+                     */
+                    rw_buf_sec = i;
+                    rw_buf_cnt++;
+                }
             }
             else
                 buf = ro_buf;
diff --git a/xen/include/xen/livepatch_elf.h b/xen/include/xen/livepatch_elf.h
index 9ad499ee8b..5b1ec469da 100644
--- a/xen/include/xen/livepatch_elf.h
+++ b/xen/include/xen/livepatch_elf.h
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ int livepatch_elf_perform_relocs(struct livepatch_elf *elf);
 
 static inline bool livepatch_elf_ignore_section(const Elf_Shdr *sec)
 {
-    return !(sec->sh_flags & SHF_ALLOC) || sec->sh_size == 0;
+    return !(sec->sh_flags & SHF_ALLOC);
 }
 #endif /* __XEN_LIVEPATCH_ELF_H__ */