diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c b/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
index b3f8a89ede40af9e07ac12724f853af2095aa2b7..f1fa7b8d1f6949f23383482f88a6fad178d05d2c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ static int parse_record_events(const struct option *opt,
 	for (j = 0; j < PERF_MEM_EVENTS__MAX; j++) {
 		struct perf_mem_event *e = &perf_mem_events[j];
 
-		fprintf(stderr, "%-20s%s",
-			e->tag, verbose ? "" : "\n");
-		if (verbose)
-			fprintf(stderr, " [%s]\n", e->name);
+		fprintf(stderr, "%-13s%-*s%s\n",
+			e->tag,
+			verbose ? 25 : 0,
+			verbose ? e->name : "",
+			e->supported ? ": available" : "");
 	}
 	exit(0);
 }
@@ -92,6 +93,12 @@ static int __cmd_record(int argc, const char **argv, struct perf_mem *mem)
 		if (!perf_mem_events[j].record)
 			continue;
 
+		if (!perf_mem_events[j].supported) {
+			pr_err("failed: event '%s' not supported\n",
+			       perf_mem_events[j].name);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
 		rec_argv[i++] = "-e";
 		rec_argv[i++] = perf_mem_events[j].name;
 	};
@@ -355,6 +362,11 @@ int cmd_mem(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 		NULL
 	};
 
+	if (perf_mem_events__init()) {
+		pr_err("failed: memory events not supported\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	argc = parse_options_subcommand(argc, argv, mem_options, mem_subcommands,
 					mem_usage, PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/mem-events.c b/tools/perf/util/mem-events.c
index b1507c04b2577493d48bc05cb048256f723f277e..e21853fe1312ce1bc5dcfe1529cb44708ee73913 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/mem-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/mem-events.c
@@ -2,15 +2,20 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <api/fs/fs.h>
 #include "mem-events.h"
 #include "debug.h"
 
-#define E(t, n) { .tag = t, .name = n }
+#define E(t, n, s) { .tag = t, .name = n, .sysfs_name = s }
 
 struct perf_mem_event perf_mem_events[PERF_MEM_EVENTS__MAX] = {
-	E("ldlat-loads",	"cpu/mem-loads,ldlat=30/P"),
-	E("ldlat-stores",	"cpu/mem-stores/P"),
+	E("ldlat-loads",	"cpu/mem-loads,ldlat=30/P",	"mem-loads"),
+	E("ldlat-stores",	"cpu/mem-stores/P",		"mem-stores"),
 };
+#undef E
 
 #undef E
 
@@ -49,3 +54,27 @@ int perf_mem_events__parse(const char *str)
 	pr_err("failed: event '%s' not found, use '-e list' to get list of available events\n", str);
 	return -1;
 }
+
+int perf_mem_events__init(void)
+{
+	const char *mnt = sysfs__mount();
+	bool found = false;
+	int j;
+
+	if (!mnt)
+		return -ENOENT;
+
+	for (j = 0; j < PERF_MEM_EVENTS__MAX; j++) {
+		char path[PATH_MAX];
+		struct perf_mem_event *e = &perf_mem_events[j];
+		struct stat st;
+
+		scnprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s/devices/cpu/events/%s",
+			  mnt, e->sysfs_name);
+
+		if (!stat(path, &st))
+			e->supported = found = true;
+	}
+
+	return found ? 0 : -ENOENT;
+}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/mem-events.h b/tools/perf/util/mem-events.h
index 2995bae6ac335f799cbc8ef930c6e8b68b45a92e..75c1660bda627cdbe3069735cb7b8c4714553a22 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/mem-events.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/mem-events.h
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 
 struct perf_mem_event {
 	bool		record;
+	bool		supported;
 	const char	*tag;
 	const char	*name;
+	const char	*sysfs_name;
 };
 
 enum {
@@ -18,5 +20,6 @@ enum {
 extern struct perf_mem_event perf_mem_events[PERF_MEM_EVENTS__MAX];
 
 int perf_mem_events__parse(const char *str);
+int perf_mem_events__init(void);
 
 #endif /* __PERF_MEM_EVENTS_H */