diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 9dc7e2d6e48a..8f5d86bd3501 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2457,11 +2457,17 @@ int perf_evsel__open_strerror(struct perf_evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
 			      int err, char *msg, size_t size)
 {
 	char sbuf[STRERR_BUFSIZE];
+	int printed = 0;
 
 	switch (err) {
 	case EPERM:
 	case EACCES:
-		return scnprintf(msg, size,
+		if (err == EPERM)
+			printed = scnprintf(msg, size,
+				"No permission to enable %s event.\n\n",
+				perf_evsel__name(evsel));
+
+		return scnprintf(msg + printed, size - printed,
 		 "You may not have permission to collect %sstats.\n\n"
 		 "Consider tweaking /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid,\n"
 		 "which controls use of the performance events system by\n"