diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/json_writer.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/json_writer.c
index c6eef76322ae..0c38c41269be 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/json_writer.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/json_writer.c
@@ -84,9 +84,6 @@ static void jsonw_puts(json_writer_t *self, const char *str)
 		case '"':
 			fputs("\\\"", self->out);
 			break;
-		case '\'':
-			fputs("\\\'", self->out);
-			break;
 		default:
 			putc(*str, self->out);
 		}