diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 656c30b988ce61071394c8a088256c6d8c6b3eb1..a0acf53a25109e84748c67db8df3fa1ffa5a2fd7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2931,6 +2931,10 @@ int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
 			return scnprintf(msg, size, "wrong clockid (%d).", clockid);
 		if (perf_missing_features.aux_output)
 			return scnprintf(msg, size, "The 'aux_output' feature is not supported, update the kernel.");
+		if (!target__has_cpu(target))
+			return scnprintf(msg, size,
+	"Invalid event (%s) in per-thread mode, enable system wide with '-a'.",
+					evsel__name(evsel));
 		break;
 	case ENODATA:
 		return scnprintf(msg, size, "Cannot collect data source with the load latency event alone. "