diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
index b3536820f9a8c86570899efaf68f43c5036b867b..79367087bd18d5d818963021f50de65206b94caa 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
@@ -3752,7 +3752,8 @@ int cmd_script(int argc, const char **argv)
 		goto out_delete;
 
 	uname(&uts);
-	if (!strcmp(uts.machine, session->header.env.arch) ||
+	if (data.is_pipe ||  /* assume pipe_mode indicates native_arch */
+	    !strcmp(uts.machine, session->header.env.arch) ||
 	    (!strcmp(uts.machine, "x86_64") &&
 	     !strcmp(session->header.env.arch, "i386")))
 		native_arch = true;