diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f836936fb4d8..07e5aec1daf5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1026,6 +1026,12 @@ KBUILD_CFLAGS += -Wno-pointer-sign
 # globally built with -Wcast-function-type.
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -Wcast-function-type)
 
+# To gain proper coverage for CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS and CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE,
+# the kernel uses only C99 flexible arrays for dynamically sized trailing
+# arrays. Enforce this for everything that may examine structure sizes and
+# perform bounds checking.
+KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option, -fstrict-flex-arrays=3)
+
 # disable stringop warnings in gcc 8+
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-disable-warning, stringop-truncation)