diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/data.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/data.go
index a6f75b74e1..04fe3cb3b5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/data.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/data.go
@@ -168,12 +168,6 @@ func relocsym(ctxt *Link, s *sym.Symbol) {
 		if r.Siz == 0 { // informational relocation - no work to do
 			continue
 		}
-		if r.Type == objabi.R_DWARFFILEREF {
-			// These should have been processed previously during
-			// line table writing.
-			Errorf(s, "orphan R_DWARFFILEREF reloc to %v", r.Sym.Name)
-			continue
-		}
 
 		// We need to be able to reference dynimport symbols when linking against
 		// shared libraries, and Solaris, Darwin and AIX need it always
@@ -490,6 +484,10 @@ func relocsym(ctxt *Link, s *sym.Symbol) {
 			// This isn't a real relocation so it must not update
 			// its offset value.
 			continue
+
+		case objabi.R_DWARFFILEREF:
+			// The final file index is saved in r.Add in dwarf.go:writelines.
+			o = r.Add
 		}
 
 		if r.Variant != sym.RV_NONE {
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/dwarf.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/dwarf.go
index 0d159c7658..9e7fea0101 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/dwarf.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/dwarf.go
@@ -1302,7 +1302,7 @@ func writelines(ctxt *Link, unit *compilationUnit, ls *sym.Symbol) {
 		ls.SetUint32(ctxt.Arch, headerLengthOffset, uint32(headerend-headerstart))
 	}
 
-	// Apply any R_DWARFFILEREF relocations, since we now know the
+	// Process any R_DWARFFILEREF relocations, since we now know the
 	// line table file indices for this compilation unit. Note that
 	// this loop visits only subprogram DIEs: if the compiler is
 	// changed to generate DW_AT_decl_file attributes for other
@@ -1315,8 +1315,6 @@ func writelines(ctxt *Link, unit *compilationUnit, ls *sym.Symbol) {
 			if r.Type != objabi.R_DWARFFILEREF {
 				continue
 			}
-			// Mark relocation as applied (signal to relocsym)
-			r.Done = true
 			idx, ok := fileNums[int(r.Sym.Value)]
 			if ok {
 				if int(int32(idx)) != idx {
@@ -1329,7 +1327,11 @@ func writelines(ctxt *Link, unit *compilationUnit, ls *sym.Symbol) {
 					Errorf(f, "bad R_DWARFFILEREF relocation offset %d + 4 would write past length %d", r.Off, len(s.P))
 					continue
 				}
-				ctxt.Arch.ByteOrder.PutUint32(f.P[r.Off:r.Off+4], uint32(idx))
+				if r.Add != 0 {
+					Errorf(f, "bad R_DWARFFILEREF relocation: addend not zero")
+				}
+				r.Sym.Attr |= sym.AttrReachable | sym.AttrNotInSymbolTable
+				r.Add = int64(idx) // record the index in r.Add, we'll apply it in the reloc phase.
 			} else {
 				_, found := missing[int(r.Sym.Value)]
 				if !found {