diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-buildid-list.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-buildid-list.txt
index 5eaac6f26d51e861236cfa48ab7c0509107b472c..770a7f3bd7541163423a9c7b8236fa6666446d51 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-buildid-list.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-buildid-list.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ This command displays the buildids found in a perf.data file, so that other
 tools can be used to fetch packages with matching symbol tables for use by
 perf report.
 
+It can also be used to show the build id of the running kernel.
+
 OPTIONS
 -------
 -H::
@@ -27,6 +29,9 @@ OPTIONS
 -f::
 --force::
 	Don't do ownership validation.
+-k::
+--kernel::
+	Show running kernel build id.
 -v::
 --verbose::
 	Be more verbose.
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-buildid-list.c b/tools/perf/builtin-buildid-list.c
index 5af32ae9031ec83fc2db926df9360d1ce8f1620c..4102eadcf849bce793b5955c641c1310f60abcca 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-buildid-list.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-buildid-list.c
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 /*
  * builtin-buildid-list.c
  *
- * Builtin buildid-list command: list buildids in perf.data
+ * Builtin buildid-list command: list buildids in perf.data or in the running
+ * kernel.
  *
  * Copyright (C) 2009, Red Hat Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2009, Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@
 
 static char const *input_name = "perf.data";
 static bool force;
+static bool show_kernel;
 static bool with_hits;
 
 static const char * const buildid_list_usage[] = {
@@ -29,12 +31,13 @@ static const struct option options[] = {
 	OPT_STRING('i', "input", &input_name, "file",
 		    "input file name"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('f', "force", &force, "don't complain, do it"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN('k', "kernel", &show_kernel, "Show current kernel build id"),
 	OPT_INCR('v', "verbose", &verbose,
 		    "be more verbose"),
 	OPT_END()
 };
 
-static int __cmd_buildid_list(void)
+static int perf_session__list_build_ids(void)
 {
 	struct perf_session *session;
 
@@ -52,6 +55,30 @@ static int __cmd_buildid_list(void)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int sysfs__fprintf_build_id(FILE *fp)
+{
+	u8 kallsyms_build_id[BUILD_ID_SIZE];
+	char sbuild_id[BUILD_ID_SIZE * 2 + 1];
+
+	if (sysfs__read_build_id("/sys/kernel/notes", kallsyms_build_id,
+				 sizeof(kallsyms_build_id)) != 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	build_id__sprintf(kallsyms_build_id, sizeof(kallsyms_build_id),
+			  sbuild_id);
+	fprintf(fp, "%s\n", sbuild_id);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int __cmd_buildid_list(void)
+{
+
+	if (show_kernel)
+		return sysfs__fprintf_build_id(stdout);
+
+	return perf_session__list_build_ids();
+}
+
 int cmd_buildid_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __used)
 {
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, options, buildid_list_usage, 0);