diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index c8b535bc27bd70a8e6f3bc276ce9537050d28f8b..602c3c96fa1e132519b728e4d729b31718e4e7a6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -377,8 +377,12 @@ static int run_perf_stat(int argc __used, const char **argv)
 
 	list_for_each_entry(counter, &evsel_list->entries, node) {
 		if (create_perf_stat_counter(counter) < 0) {
-			if (errno == EINVAL || errno == ENOSYS || errno == ENOENT)
+			if (errno == EINVAL || errno == ENOSYS || errno == ENOENT) {
+				if (verbose)
+					ui__warning("%s event is not supported by the kernel.\n",
+						    event_name(counter));
 				continue;
+			}
 
 			if (errno == EPERM || errno == EACCES) {
 				error("You may not have permission to collect %sstats.\n"