diff --git a/tools/lkl/include/lkl.h b/tools/lkl/include/lkl.h
index eaac8f2eb4aa1c..3738c561da11a7 100644
--- a/tools/lkl/include/lkl.h
+++ b/tools/lkl/include/lkl.h
@@ -437,6 +437,12 @@ int lkl_if_del_ip(int ifindex, int af, void *addr, unsigned int netprefix_len);
  */
 int lkl_if_wait_ipv6_dad(int ifindex, void *addr);
 
+/**
+ * lkl_set_fd_limit - set the maximum number of file descriptors allowed
+ * @fd_limit - fd max limit
+ */
+int lkl_set_fd_limit(unsigned int fd_limit);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/tools/lkl/lib/fs.c b/tools/lkl/lib/fs.c
index cfdea62d543a7e..f3481f8b194017 100644
--- a/tools/lkl/lib/fs.c
+++ b/tools/lkl/lib/fs.c
@@ -363,3 +363,12 @@ int lkl_dirfd(struct lkl_dir *dir)
 {
 	return dir->fd;
 }
+
+int lkl_set_fd_limit(unsigned int fd_limit)
+{
+	struct lkl_rlimit rlim = {
+		.rlim_cur = fd_limit,
+		.rlim_max = fd_limit,
+	};
+	return lkl_sys_setrlimit(LKL_RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlim);
+}
diff --git a/tools/lkl/lib/hijack/init.c b/tools/lkl/lib/hijack/init.c
index 8d22d840c045c3..46f3b49b64b984 100644
--- a/tools/lkl/lib/hijack/init.c
+++ b/tools/lkl/lib/hijack/init.c
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ hijack_init(void)
 	if (single_cpu_mode == 1)
 		PinToFirstCpu(&ori_cpu);
 
-	ret = lkl_start_kernel(&lkl_host_ops, 64 * 1024 * 1024, "");
+	ret = lkl_start_kernel(&lkl_host_ops, 64 * 1024 * 1024UL, "");
 	if (ret) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "can't start kernel: %s\n", lkl_strerror(ret));
 		return;
@@ -335,6 +335,11 @@ hijack_init(void)
 	if (single_cpu_mode)
 		PinToCpus(&ori_cpu);
 
+	ret = lkl_set_fd_limit(65535);
+	if (ret)
+		fprintf(stderr, "lkl_set_fd_limit failed: %s\n",
+			lkl_strerror(ret));
+
 	/* fillup FDs up to LKL_FD_OFFSET */
 	ret = lkl_sys_mknod("/dev_null", LKL_S_IFCHR | 0600, LKL_MKDEV(1, 3));
 	dev_null = lkl_sys_open("/dev_null", LKL_O_RDONLY, 0);