diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index ec8289570f4fbb3cd58eb7f325d05745cea7c293..78b0d6a5fdff2a51fdb6f4436406464669bd4fae 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -1814,27 +1814,11 @@ static int trace__run(struct trace *trace, int argc, const char **argv)
 	trace->live = false;
 	return err;
 out_error_tp:
-	switch(errno) {
-	case ENOENT:
-		fputs("Error:\tUnable to find debugfs\n"
-		      "Hint:\tWas your kernel was compiled with debugfs support?\n"
-		      "Hint:\tIs the debugfs filesystem mounted?\n"
-		      "Hint:\tTry 'sudo mount -t debugfs nodev /sys/kernel/debug'\n",
-		      trace->output);
-		break;
-	case EACCES:
-		fprintf(trace->output,
-			"Error:\tNo permissions to read %s/tracing/events/raw_syscalls\n"
-			"Hint:\tTry 'sudo mount -o remount,mode=755 %s'\n",
-			debugfs_mountpoint, debugfs_mountpoint);
-		break;
-	default: {
-		char bf[256];
-		fprintf(trace->output, "Can't trace: %s\n",
-			strerror_r(errno, bf, sizeof(bf)));
-	}
-		break;
-	}
+{
+	char errbuf[BUFSIZ];
+	perf_evlist__strerror_tp(evlist, errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf));
+	fprintf(trace->output, "%s\n", errbuf);
+}
 	goto out_delete_evlist;
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index cb9523f50a37b4587a16dadabb103fb1c4d21a08..6737420891cd00ac7a9e04c23a34be2e29aa04d5 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -1126,3 +1126,30 @@ size_t perf_evlist__fprintf(struct perf_evlist *evlist, FILE *fp)
 
 	return printed + fprintf(fp, "\n");;
 }
+
+int perf_evlist__strerror_tp(struct perf_evlist *evlist __maybe_unused,
+			     int err, char *buf, size_t size)
+{
+	char sbuf[128];
+
+	switch (err) {
+	case ENOENT:
+		scnprintf(buf, size, "%s",
+			  "Error:\tUnable to find debugfs\n"
+			  "Hint:\tWas your kernel was compiled with debugfs support?\n"
+			  "Hint:\tIs the debugfs filesystem mounted?\n"
+			  "Hint:\tTry 'sudo mount -t debugfs nodev /sys/kernel/debug'");
+		break;
+	case EACCES:
+		scnprintf(buf, size,
+			  "Error:\tNo permissions to read %s/tracing/events/raw_syscalls\n"
+			  "Hint:\tTry 'sudo mount -o remount,mode=755 %s'\n",
+			  debugfs_mountpoint, debugfs_mountpoint);
+		break;
+	default:
+		scnprintf(buf, size, "%s", strerror_r(err, sbuf, sizeof(sbuf)));
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.h b/tools/perf/util/evlist.h
index 722618f84c53dee475ea03ee43d652799aef2199..386de1036442669056f9ddd056b7f90ceab45fa0 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.h
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ static inline struct perf_evsel *perf_evlist__last(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 
 size_t perf_evlist__fprintf(struct perf_evlist *evlist, FILE *fp);
 
+int perf_evlist__strerror_tp(struct perf_evlist *evlist, int err, char *buf, size_t size);
+
 static inline unsigned int perf_mmap__read_head(struct perf_mmap *mm)
 {
 	struct perf_event_mmap_page *pc = mm->base;