diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index 2dfcb613e66b..c385a63ebfd1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -316,6 +316,8 @@ static int run_perf_stat(int argc __used, const char **argv)
 				      "\t Consider tweaking"
 				      " /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid or running as root.",
 				      system_wide ? "system-wide " : "");
+			} else if (errno == ENOENT) {
+				error("%s event is not supported. ", event_name(counter));
 			} else {
 				error("open_counter returned with %d (%s). "
 				      "/bin/dmesg may provide additional information.\n",