diff --git a/util/lint/kconfig_lint b/util/lint/kconfig_lint
index 4d0a755efb..502a61878b 100755
--- a/util/lint/kconfig_lint
+++ b/util/lint/kconfig_lint
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ my $warnings_found = 0;
 my $exclude_dirs_and_files =
   '^build/\|^coreboot-builds/\|^configs/\|^util/\|^\.git/\|^payloads\|^Documentation\|^3rdparty'
   . '\|' .                            # directories to exclude when searching for used symbols
-  '\.config\|\.txt$\|\.tex$\|\.tags'; #files to exclude when looking for symbols
+  '\.config\|\.txt$\|\.tex$\|\.tags\|/kconfig.h'; #files to exclude when looking for symbols
 my $payload_files_to_check='payloads/Makefile.inc payloads/external/Makefile.inc';
 my $config_file = "";                 # name of config file to load symbol values from.
 my @wholeconfig;                      # document the entire kconfig structure
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ sub check_is_enabled {
                     }
                 }
                 else {
-                    show_warning("CONFIG() used on unknown value ($symbol) at $file:$lineno.");
+                    show_error("CONFIG() used on unknown value ($symbol) at $file:$lineno.");
                 }
             }
         } elsif ( $line =~ /^([^:]+):(\d+):(.+IS_ENABLED.*)/ ) {