diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
index 32626ea3e2276b11279db88207e42c29eeed391a..348bed4a2abf5a449be3279b969229444d112c7e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
@@ -742,6 +742,17 @@ int cmd_report(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, options, report_usage, 0);
 
+	if (symbol_conf.vmlinux_name &&
+	    access(symbol_conf.vmlinux_name, R_OK)) {
+		pr_err("Invalid file: %s\n", symbol_conf.vmlinux_name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+	if (symbol_conf.kallsyms_name &&
+	    access(symbol_conf.kallsyms_name, R_OK)) {
+		pr_err("Invalid file: %s\n", symbol_conf.kallsyms_name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (report.use_stdio)
 		use_browser = 0;
 	else if (report.use_tui)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
index 504f2d73b7eefe2699349ac75c5cc3b875961375..48b588c6951a9476246d6c71a9ee7b8535a8be37 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
@@ -1132,8 +1132,11 @@ static int dso__load_kcore(struct dso *dso, struct map *map,
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&md.maps);
 
 	fd = open(kcore_filename, O_RDONLY);
-	if (fd < 0)
+	if (fd < 0) {
+		pr_err("%s requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO capability to access.\n",
+			kcore_filename);
 		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	/* Read new maps into temporary lists */
 	err = file__read_maps(fd, md.type == MAP__FUNCTION, kcore_mapfn, &md,