diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/perf.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/perf.c
index ac6b1a12c9b7cd6319dc3697500d56c938de8d90..b76b77dcfd1fcc52ded0a99b7e7f3cec8cde90ce 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/perf.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/perf.c
@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@ static bool has_perf_query_support(void)
 	if (perf_query_supported)
 		goto out;
 
-	fd = open(bin_name, O_RDONLY);
+	fd = open("/", O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
-		p_err("perf_query_support: %s", strerror(errno));
+		p_err("perf_query_support: cannot open directory \"/\" (%s)",
+		      strerror(errno));
 		goto out;
 	}