diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/netfilter/nf_tables.h b/include/uapi/linux/netfilter/nf_tables.h
index af8f4c304d27..707af820f1a9 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/netfilter/nf_tables.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/netfilter/nf_tables.h
@@ -266,9 +266,11 @@ enum nft_rule_attributes {
 /**
  * enum nft_rule_compat_flags - nf_tables rule compat flags
  *
+ * @NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_UNUSED: unused
  * @NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_INV: invert the check result
  */
 enum nft_rule_compat_flags {
+	NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_UNUSED = (1 << 0),
 	NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_INV	= (1 << 1),
 	NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_MASK	= NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_INV,
 };
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nft_compat.c b/net/netfilter/nft_compat.c
index d583ba50f181..05862b3ea33b 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nft_compat.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nft_compat.c
@@ -212,7 +212,8 @@ static int nft_parse_compat(const struct nlattr *attr, u16 *proto, bool *inv)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	flags = ntohl(nla_get_be32(tb[NFTA_RULE_COMPAT_FLAGS]));
-	if (flags & ~NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_MASK)
+	if (flags & NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_UNUSED ||
+	    flags & ~NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_MASK)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	if (flags & NFT_RULE_COMPAT_F_INV)
 		*inv = true;