diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/Makefile
index f0431e6cb67e..9039f3709aff 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/Makefile
@@ -170,11 +170,11 @@ ifneq ($(KBUILD_OUTPUT),)
   # $(realpath ...) resolves symlinks
   abs_objtree := $(realpath $(abs_objtree))
   BUILD := $(abs_objtree)/kselftest
-  KHDR_INCLUDES := -D_GNU_SOURCE -isystem ${abs_objtree}/usr/include
+  KHDR_INCLUDES := -isystem ${abs_objtree}/usr/include
 else
   BUILD := $(CURDIR)
   abs_srctree := $(shell cd $(top_srcdir) && pwd)
-  KHDR_INCLUDES := -D_GNU_SOURCE -isystem ${abs_srctree}/usr/include
+  KHDR_INCLUDES := -isystem ${abs_srctree}/usr/include
   DEFAULT_INSTALL_HDR_PATH := 1
 endif
 
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/cgroup_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/cgroup_util.c
index ce16a50ecff8..432db923bced 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/cgroup_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/cgroup_util.c
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <linux/limits.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_core.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_core.c
index de8baad46022..a5672a91d273 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_core.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_core.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <linux/sched.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_cpu.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_cpu.c
index 5a4a314f6af7..dad2ed82f3ef 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_cpu.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_cpu.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <sys/sysinfo.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_hugetlb_memcg.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_hugetlb_memcg.c
index 80d05d50a42d..856f9508ea56 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_hugetlb_memcg.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_hugetlb_memcg.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_kmem.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_kmem.c
index 2e453ac50c0d..96693d8772be 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_kmem.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_kmem.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_memcontrol.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_memcontrol.c
index c871630d62a3..41ae8047b889 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_memcontrol.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_memcontrol.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <linux/oom.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_zswap.c b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_zswap.c
index 8418a8d7439f..fa571bfd2432 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_zswap.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/cgroup/test_zswap.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
 #include <linux/limits.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
index 37b03f1b8741..3c8f2965c285 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 #define __KSELFTEST_HARNESS_H
 
 #ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-static_assert(0, "kselftest harness requires _GNU_SOURCE to be defined");
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
 #endif
 #include <asm/types.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/lib.mk b/tools/testing/selftests/lib.mk
index 33c24ceddfb7..09e8a854f0fc 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/lib.mk
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/lib.mk
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ MAKEFLAGS += --no-print-directory
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(KHDR_INCLUDES),)
-KHDR_INCLUDES := -D_GNU_SOURCE -isystem $(top_srcdir)/usr/include
+KHDR_INCLUDES := -isystem $(top_srcdir)/usr/include
 endif
 
 # The following are built by lib.mk common compile rules.
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/Makefile
index 26ea30fae23c..867f88ce2570 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/Makefile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ OBJCOPY := $(CROSS_COMPILE)objcopy
 endif
 
 INCLUDES := -I$(top_srcdir)/tools/include
-HOST_CFLAGS := -Wall -Werror $(KHDR_INCLUDES) -g $(INCLUDES) -fPIC
+HOST_CFLAGS := -Wall -Werror -g $(INCLUDES) -fPIC
 HOST_LDFLAGS := -z noexecstack -lcrypto
 ENCL_CFLAGS += -Wall -Werror -static-pie -nostdlib -ffreestanding -fPIE \
 	       -fno-stack-protector -mrdrnd $(INCLUDES)
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/sigstruct.c b/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/sigstruct.c
index 200034a0fee5..d73b29becf5b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/sigstruct.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sgx/sigstruct.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 /*  Copyright(c) 2016-20 Intel Corporation. */
 
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>