diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
index f082a5ad7cf1..5c3642b3f802 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-c.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
index c6b8c77f7d12..5e98c6d2b9aa 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
index b2d56ab9e615..d35dcd6f8d82 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/genetlink.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 %YAML 1.2
 ---
 $id: http://kernel.org/schemas/netlink/genetlink-legacy.yaml#
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
index 18ecb7d90cbe..4727c067e2ba 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/ethtool.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: ethtool
 
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
index cff104288723..3e13826a3fdf 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: fou
 
diff --git a/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml b/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
index 753e5914a8b7..b99e7ffef7a1 100644
--- a/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 name: netdev
 
diff --git a/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
index 2122e0c4a399..a22442ba1d30 100644
--- a/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
+++ b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ YAML specifications can be found under ``Documentation/netlink/specs/``
 This document describes details of the schema.
 See :doc:`intro-specs` for a practical starting guide.
 
-All specs must be licensed under ``GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-3-Clause``
+All specs must be licensed under
+``((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)``
 to allow for easy adoption in user space code.
 
 Compatibility levels
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/fou.h b/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
index 5041c3598493..b5cd3e7b3775 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/fou.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h b/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
index ed134fbdfd32..639524b59930 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
index 9e10802587fc..3abab70d66dd 100644
--- a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
+++ b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel source */
diff --git a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
index 2c5fc7d1e8a7..74d74fc23167 100644
--- a/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
+++ b/net/core/netdev-genl-gen.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel header */
diff --git a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
index 5c14fe030eda..6c37c4f98cca 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel source */
diff --git a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
index 58b1e1ed4b3b..dbd0780a5d34 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
+++ b/net/ipv4/fou_nl.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/fou.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN kernel header */
diff --git a/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h b/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
index ed134fbdfd32..639524b59930 100644
--- a/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
+++ b/tools/include/uapi/linux/netdev.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause) */
 /* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */
 /*	Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml */
 /* YNL-GEN uapi header */
diff --git a/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py b/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
index 960a356e8225..d04450c2a44a 100644
--- a/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
+++ b/tools/net/ynl/lib/nlspec.py
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
 
     Attributes:
         proto     protocol type (e.g. genetlink)
+        license   spec license (loaded from an SPDX tag on the spec)
 
         attr_sets  dict of attribute sets
         msgs       dict of all messages (index by name)
@@ -283,6 +284,13 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
     """
     def __init__(self, spec_path, schema_path=None):
         with open(spec_path, "r") as stream:
+            prefix = '# SPDX-License-Identifier: '
+            first = stream.readline().strip()
+            if not first.startswith(prefix):
+                raise Exception('SPDX license tag required in the spec')
+            self.license = first[len(prefix):]
+
+            stream.seek(0)
             spec = yaml.safe_load(stream)
 
         self._resolution_list = []
@@ -387,7 +395,8 @@ class SpecFamily(SpecElement):
     def resolve(self):
         self.resolve_up(super())
 
-        for elem in self.yaml['definitions']:
+        definitions = self.yaml.get('definitions', [])
+        for elem in definitions:
             if elem['type'] == 'enum' or elem['type'] == 'flags':
                 self.consts[elem['name']] = self.new_enum(elem)
             else:
diff --git a/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py b/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
index d47376f19de7..c16671a02621 100755
--- a/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
+++ b/tools/net/ynl/ynl-gen-c.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)
 
 import argparse
 import collections
@@ -2059,6 +2059,10 @@ def main():
 
     try:
         parsed = Family(args.spec)
+        if parsed.license != '((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)':
+            print('Spec license:', parsed.license)
+            print('License must be: ((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)')
+            os.sys.exit(1)
     except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
         print(exc)
         os.sys.exit(1)
@@ -2067,13 +2071,10 @@ def main():
     cw = CodeWriter(BaseNlLib(), out_file)
 
     _, spec_kernel = find_kernel_root(args.spec)
-    if args.mode == 'uapi':
-        cw.p('/* SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause */')
+    if args.mode == 'uapi' or args.header:
+        cw.p(f'/* SPDX-License-Identifier: {parsed.license} */')
     else:
-        if args.header:
-            cw.p('/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause */')
-        else:
-            cw.p('// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause')
+        cw.p(f'// SPDX-License-Identifier: {parsed.license}')
     cw.p("/* Do not edit directly, auto-generated from: */")
     cw.p(f"/*\t{spec_kernel} */")
     cw.p(f"/* YNL-GEN {args.mode} {'header' if args.header else 'source'} */")