diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
index 1ce4a21e2424..38bb2c4ebd07 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@ let
   options = {
 
     debug = {
-      DEBUG_INFO                = if (features.debug or false) then yes else no;
+      # Necessary for BTF
+      DEBUG_INFO                = mkMerge [
+        (whenOlder "5.2" (if (features.debug or false) then yes else no))
+        (whenAtLeast "5.2" yes)
+      ];
+      DEBUG_INFO_BTF            = whenAtLeast "5.2" yes;
       DEBUG_KERNEL              = yes;
       DEBUG_DEVRES              = no;
       DYNAMIC_DEBUG             = yes;
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
index 77add0aef539..12eca63e2162 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { lib, buildPackages, runCommand, nettools, bc, bison, flex, perl, rsync, gmp, libmpc, mpfr, openssl
-, libelf, cpio, elfutils, zstd, gawk, python3Minimal
+, libelf, cpio, elfutils, zstd, gawk, python3Minimal, zlib, pahole
 , writeTextFile
 }:
 
@@ -316,10 +316,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ((drvAttrs config stdenv.hostPlatform.linux-kernel kernelPat
       ++ optional  (lib.versionAtLeast version "4.14" && lib.versionOlder version "5.8") libelf
       # Removed util-linuxMinimal since it should not be a dependency.
       ++ optionals (lib.versionAtLeast version "4.16") [ bison flex ]
-      ++ optional  (lib.versionAtLeast version "5.2")  cpio
+      ++ optionals (lib.versionAtLeast version "5.2")  [ cpio pahole ]
       ++ optional  (lib.versionAtLeast version "5.8")  elfutils
       ;
 
+  buildInputs = optional (lib.versionAtLeast version "5.2") zlib;
+
   hardeningDisable = [ "bindnow" "format" "fortify" "stackprotector" "pic" "pie" ];
 
   # Absolute paths for compilers avoid any PATH-clobbering issues.