diff --git a/tools/perf/util/event.c b/tools/perf/util/event.c
index 023dd3548a942c635f6533bbfc2f8529c807d854..5516236df6ab7ac4ab45b578162696d1e013ea9e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/event.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/event.c
@@ -51,29 +51,32 @@ static struct perf_sample synth_sample = {
 
 /*
  * Assumes that the first 4095 bytes of /proc/pid/stat contains
- * the comm and tgid.
+ * the comm, tgid and ppid.
  */
-static pid_t perf_event__get_comm_tgid(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len)
+static int perf_event__get_comm_ids(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len,
+				    pid_t *tgid, pid_t *ppid)
 {
 	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	char bf[4096];
 	int fd;
 	size_t size = 0, n;
-	pid_t tgid = -1;
-	char *nl, *name, *tgids;
+	char *nl, *name, *tgids, *ppids;
+
+	*tgid = -1;
+	*ppid = -1;
 
 	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "/proc/%d/status", pid);
 
 	fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		pr_debug("couldn't open %s\n", filename);
-		return 0;
+		return -1;
 	}
 
 	n = read(fd, bf, sizeof(bf) - 1);
 	close(fd);
 	if (n <= 0) {
-		pr_warning("Couldn't get COMM and tgid for pid %d\n",
+		pr_warning("Couldn't get COMM, tigd and ppid for pid %d\n",
 			   pid);
 		return -1;
 	}
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ static pid_t perf_event__get_comm_tgid(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len)
 
 	name = strstr(bf, "Name:");
 	tgids = strstr(bf, "Tgid:");
+	ppids = strstr(bf, "PPid:");
 
 	if (name) {
 		name += 5;  /* strlen("Name:") */
@@ -103,32 +107,45 @@ static pid_t perf_event__get_comm_tgid(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len)
 
 	if (tgids) {
 		tgids += 5;  /* strlen("Tgid:") */
-		tgid = atoi(tgids);
+		*tgid = atoi(tgids);
 	} else {
 		pr_debug("Tgid: string not found for pid %d\n", pid);
 	}
 
-	return tgid;
+	if (ppids) {
+		ppids += 5;  /* strlen("PPid:") */
+		*ppid = atoi(ppids);
+	} else {
+		pr_debug("PPid: string not found for pid %d\n", pid);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
-static pid_t perf_event__prepare_comm(union perf_event *event, pid_t pid,
-					 struct machine *machine)
+static int perf_event__prepare_comm(union perf_event *event, pid_t pid,
+				    struct machine *machine,
+				    pid_t *tgid, pid_t *ppid)
 {
 	size_t size;
-	pid_t tgid;
+
+	*ppid = -1;
 
 	memset(&event->comm, 0, sizeof(event->comm));
 
-	if (machine__is_host(machine))
-		tgid = perf_event__get_comm_tgid(pid, event->comm.comm,
-						 sizeof(event->comm.comm));
-	else
-		tgid = machine->pid;
+	if (machine__is_host(machine)) {
+		if (perf_event__get_comm_ids(pid, event->comm.comm,
+					     sizeof(event->comm.comm),
+					     tgid, ppid) != 0) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+	} else {
+		*tgid = machine->pid;
+	}
 
-	if (tgid < 0)
-		goto out;
+	if (*tgid < 0)
+		return -1;
 
-	event->comm.pid = tgid;
+	event->comm.pid = *tgid;
 	event->comm.header.type = PERF_RECORD_COMM;
 
 	size = strlen(event->comm.comm) + 1;
@@ -138,8 +155,8 @@ static pid_t perf_event__prepare_comm(union perf_event *event, pid_t pid,
 				(sizeof(event->comm.comm) - size) +
 				machine->id_hdr_size);
 	event->comm.tid = pid;
-out:
-	return tgid;
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static pid_t perf_event__synthesize_comm(struct perf_tool *tool,
@@ -147,27 +164,27 @@ static pid_t perf_event__synthesize_comm(struct perf_tool *tool,
 					 perf_event__handler_t process,
 					 struct machine *machine)
 {
-	pid_t tgid = perf_event__prepare_comm(event, pid, machine);
+	pid_t tgid, ppid;
 
-	if (tgid == -1)
-		goto out;
+	if (perf_event__prepare_comm(event, pid, machine, &tgid, &ppid) != 0)
+		return -1;
 
 	if (process(tool, event, &synth_sample, machine) != 0)
 		return -1;
 
-out:
 	return tgid;
 }
 
 static int perf_event__synthesize_fork(struct perf_tool *tool,
-				       union perf_event *event, pid_t pid,
-				       pid_t tgid, perf_event__handler_t process,
+				       union perf_event *event,
+				       pid_t pid, pid_t tgid, pid_t ppid,
+				       perf_event__handler_t process,
 				       struct machine *machine)
 {
 	memset(&event->fork, 0, sizeof(event->fork) + machine->id_hdr_size);
 
-	event->fork.ppid = tgid;
-	event->fork.ptid = tgid;
+	event->fork.ppid = ppid;
+	event->fork.ptid = ppid;
 	event->fork.pid  = tgid;
 	event->fork.tid  = pid;
 	event->fork.header.type = PERF_RECORD_FORK;
@@ -359,7 +376,7 @@ static int __event__synthesize_thread(union perf_event *comm_event,
 	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	DIR *tasks;
 	struct dirent dirent, *next;
-	pid_t tgid;
+	pid_t tgid, ppid;
 
 	/* special case: only send one comm event using passed in pid */
 	if (!full) {
@@ -394,12 +411,12 @@ static int __event__synthesize_thread(union perf_event *comm_event,
 		if (*end)
 			continue;
 
-		tgid = perf_event__prepare_comm(comm_event, _pid, machine);
-		if (tgid == -1)
+		if (perf_event__prepare_comm(comm_event, _pid, machine,
+					     &tgid, &ppid) != 0)
 			return -1;
 
 		if (perf_event__synthesize_fork(tool, fork_event, _pid, tgid,
-						process, machine) < 0)
+						ppid, process, machine) < 0)
 			return -1;
 		/*
 		 * Send the prepared comm event