diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
index 9c640a8081c7..45c51eb6cab4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
@@ -1690,8 +1690,13 @@ static int list_available_scripts(const struct option *opt __maybe_unused,
 	snprintf(scripts_path, MAXPATHLEN, "%s/scripts", get_argv_exec_path());
 
 	scripts_dir = opendir(scripts_path);
-	if (!scripts_dir)
-		return -1;
+	if (!scripts_dir) {
+		fprintf(stdout,
+			"open(%s) failed.\n"
+			"Check \"PERF_EXEC_PATH\" env to set scripts dir.\n",
+			scripts_path);
+		exit(-1);
+	}
 
 	for_each_lang(scripts_path, scripts_dir, lang_dirent) {
 		snprintf(lang_path, MAXPATHLEN, "%s/%s/bin", scripts_path,