diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
index 8ec5b9f344e02cbb1985f36c66234359e2a00eea..0e7347d1583dcbb69ab5fe8a8298fea7d5f1595f 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
@@ -487,6 +487,7 @@ mmap_per_evsel(struct perf_evlist *evlist, struct perf_evlist_mmap_ops *ops,
 			if (ops->idx)
 				ops->idx(evlist, evsel, mp, idx);
 
+			/* Debug message used by test scripts */
 			pr_debug("idx %d: mmapping fd %d\n", idx, *output);
 			if (ops->mmap(map, mp, *output, evlist_cpu) < 0)
 				return -1;
@@ -496,6 +497,7 @@ mmap_per_evsel(struct perf_evlist *evlist, struct perf_evlist_mmap_ops *ops,
 			if (!idx)
 				perf_evlist__set_mmap_first(evlist, map, overwrite);
 		} else {
+			/* Debug message used by test scripts */
 			pr_debug("idx %d: set output fd %d -> %d\n", idx, fd, *output);
 			if (ioctl(fd, PERF_EVENT_IOC_SET_OUTPUT, *output) != 0)
 				return -1;
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index f4f1619199e5ceed79334ed1d28bee66fb0b0ba2..52d254b1530c98be0855e1b1d4adb81748641b95 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -2434,10 +2434,14 @@ static int __cmd_record(struct record *rec, int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	record__uniquify_name(rec);
 
+	/* Debug message used by test scripts */
+	pr_debug3("perf record opening and mmapping events\n");
 	if (record__open(rec) != 0) {
 		err = -1;
 		goto out_free_threads;
 	}
+	/* Debug message used by test scripts */
+	pr_debug3("perf record done opening and mmapping events\n");
 	session->header.env.comp_mmap_len = session->evlist->core.mmap_len;
 
 	if (rec->opts.kcore) {
@@ -2580,6 +2584,10 @@ static int __cmd_record(struct record *rec, int argc, const char **argv)
 	if (err)
 		goto out_child;
 
+	/* Debug message used by test scripts */
+	pr_debug3("perf record has started\n");
+	fflush(stderr);
+
 	trigger_ready(&auxtrace_snapshot_trigger);
 	trigger_ready(&switch_output_trigger);
 	perf_hooks__invoke_record_start();
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 5776bfa70f11e8da98b6f41736464b24851ec533..a27092339b81a439c409a101b1d67eee077553ae 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2089,6 +2089,7 @@ static int evsel__open_cpu(struct evsel *evsel, struct perf_cpu_map *cpus,
 
 			test_attr__ready();
 
+			/* Debug message used by test scripts */
 			pr_debug2_peo("sys_perf_event_open: pid %d  cpu %d  group_fd %d  flags %#lx",
 				pid, perf_cpu_map__cpu(cpus, idx).cpu, group_fd, evsel->open_flags);
 
@@ -2114,6 +2115,7 @@ static int evsel__open_cpu(struct evsel *evsel, struct perf_cpu_map *cpus,
 						fd, group_fd, evsel->open_flags);
 			}
 
+			/* Debug message used by test scripts */
 			pr_debug2_peo(" = %d\n", fd);
 
 			if (evsel->bpf_fd >= 0) {