diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/bpf.h b/tools/lib/bpf/bpf.h
index 875dde20d56e..92a3eaa154dd 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/bpf.h
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/bpf.h
@@ -241,8 +241,15 @@ LIBBPF_API int bpf_task_fd_query(int pid, int fd, __u32 flags, char *buf,
 				 __u32 *buf_len, __u32 *prog_id, __u32 *fd_type,
 				 __u64 *probe_offset, __u64 *probe_addr);
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+/* forward-declaring enums in C++ isn't compatible with pure C enums, so
+ * instead define bpf_enable_stats() as accepting int as an input
+ */
+LIBBPF_API int bpf_enable_stats(int type);
+#else
 enum bpf_stats_type; /* defined in up-to-date linux/bpf.h */
 LIBBPF_API int bpf_enable_stats(enum bpf_stats_type type);
+#endif
 
 struct bpf_prog_bind_opts {
 	size_t sz; /* size of this struct for forward/backward compatibility */