diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.l b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.l
index c87efc12579defb039c1782452f45ba556d23208..66959fab6634366032ac2f1d5fbbda5e234464dc 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.l
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.l
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ num_dec		[0-9]+
 num_hex		0x[a-fA-F0-9]+
 num_raw_hex	[a-fA-F0-9]+
 name		[a-zA-Z_*?][a-zA-Z0-9_*?]*
+name_minus	[a-zA-Z_*?][a-zA-Z0-9\-_*?]*
 modifier_event	[ukhpGH]{1,8}
 modifier_bp	[rwx]{1,3}
 
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ period			{ return term(yyscanner, PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_SAMPLE_PERIOD); }
 branch_type		{ return term(yyscanner, PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_BRANCH_SAMPLE_TYPE); }
 ,			{ return ','; }
 "/"			{ BEGIN(INITIAL); return '/'; }
+{name_minus}		{ return str(yyscanner, PE_NAME); }
 }
 
 mem:			{ BEGIN(mem); return PE_PREFIX_MEM; }