diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index c5642e6748b282e64703d43ef2c4167a509ee48d..c659a3ca1283e7fedc44e2afe4935cbd65cb7e13 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ extern int parse_events_debug;
 #endif
 int parse_events_parse(void *data, void *scanner);
 
+static struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *perf_pmu_events_list;
+/*
+ * The variable indicates the number of supported pmu event symbols.
+ * 0 means not initialized and ready to init
+ * -1 means failed to init, don't try anymore
+ * >0 is the number of supported pmu event symbols
+ */
+static int perf_pmu_events_list_num;
+
 static struct event_symbol event_symbols_hw[PERF_COUNT_HW_MAX] = {
 	[PERF_COUNT_HW_CPU_CYCLES] = {
 		.symbol = "cpu-cycles",
@@ -863,6 +872,113 @@ int parse_events_name(struct list_head *list, char *name)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+comp_pmu(const void *p1, const void *p2)
+{
+	struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *pmu1 = (struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *) p1;
+	struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *pmu2 = (struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *) p2;
+
+	return strcmp(pmu1->symbol, pmu2->symbol);
+}
+
+static void perf_pmu__parse_cleanup(void)
+{
+	if (perf_pmu_events_list_num > 0) {
+		struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *p;
+		int i;
+
+		for (i = 0; i < perf_pmu_events_list_num; i++) {
+			p = perf_pmu_events_list + i;
+			free(p->symbol);
+		}
+		free(perf_pmu_events_list);
+		perf_pmu_events_list = NULL;
+		perf_pmu_events_list_num = 0;
+	}
+}
+
+#define SET_SYMBOL(str, stype)		\
+do {					\
+	p->symbol = str;		\
+	if (!p->symbol)			\
+		goto err;		\
+	p->type = stype;		\
+} while (0)
+
+/*
+ * Read the pmu events list from sysfs
+ * Save it into perf_pmu_events_list
+ */
+static void perf_pmu__parse_init(void)
+{
+
+	struct perf_pmu *pmu = NULL;
+	struct perf_pmu_alias *alias;
+	int len = 0;
+
+	pmu = perf_pmu__find("cpu");
+	if ((pmu == NULL) || list_empty(&pmu->aliases)) {
+		perf_pmu_events_list_num = -1;
+		return;
+	}
+	list_for_each_entry(alias, &pmu->aliases, list) {
+		if (strchr(alias->name, '-'))
+			len++;
+		len++;
+	}
+	perf_pmu_events_list = malloc(sizeof(struct perf_pmu_event_symbol) * len);
+	if (!perf_pmu_events_list)
+		return;
+	perf_pmu_events_list_num = len;
+
+	len = 0;
+	list_for_each_entry(alias, &pmu->aliases, list) {
+		struct perf_pmu_event_symbol *p = perf_pmu_events_list + len;
+		char *tmp = strchr(alias->name, '-');
+
+		if (tmp != NULL) {
+			SET_SYMBOL(strndup(alias->name, tmp - alias->name),
+					PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_PREFIX);
+			p++;
+			SET_SYMBOL(strdup(++tmp), PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_SUFFIX);
+			len += 2;
+		} else {
+			SET_SYMBOL(strdup(alias->name), PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL);
+			len++;
+		}
+	}
+	qsort(perf_pmu_events_list, len,
+		sizeof(struct perf_pmu_event_symbol), comp_pmu);
+
+	return;
+err:
+	perf_pmu__parse_cleanup();
+}
+
+enum perf_pmu_event_symbol_type
+perf_pmu__parse_check(const char *name)
+{
+	struct perf_pmu_event_symbol p, *r;
+
+	/* scan kernel pmu events from sysfs if needed */
+	if (perf_pmu_events_list_num == 0)
+		perf_pmu__parse_init();
+	/*
+	 * name "cpu" could be prefix of cpu-cycles or cpu// events.
+	 * cpu-cycles has been handled by hardcode.
+	 * So it must be cpu// events, not kernel pmu event.
+	 */
+	if ((perf_pmu_events_list_num <= 0) || !strcmp(name, "cpu"))
+		return PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_ERR;
+
+	p.symbol = strdup(name);
+	r = bsearch(&p, perf_pmu_events_list,
+			(size_t) perf_pmu_events_list_num,
+			sizeof(struct perf_pmu_event_symbol), comp_pmu);
+	free(p.symbol);
+	return r ? r->type : PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_ERR;
+}
+
 static int parse_events__scanner(const char *str, void *data, int start_token)
 {
 	YY_BUFFER_STATE buffer;
@@ -917,6 +1033,7 @@ int parse_events(struct perf_evlist *evlist, const char *str)
 	int ret;
 
 	ret = parse_events__scanner(str, &data, PE_START_EVENTS);
+	perf_pmu__parse_cleanup();
 	if (!ret) {
 		int entries = data.idx - evlist->nr_entries;
 		perf_evlist__splice_list_tail(evlist, &data.list, entries);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
index df094b4ed5ed7d8157af73dcc592194fc8475782..db2cf78ff0f3c70c0fb3d6563942b02c6dba2efa 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@ extern int parse_filter(const struct option *opt, const char *str, int unset);
 
 #define EVENTS_HELP_MAX (128*1024)
 
+enum perf_pmu_event_symbol_type {
+	PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_ERR,		/* not a PMU EVENT */
+	PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL,		/* normal style PMU event */
+	PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_PREFIX,	/* prefix of pre-suf style event */
+	PMU_EVENT_SYMBOL_SUFFIX,	/* suffix of pre-suf style event */
+};
+
+struct perf_pmu_event_symbol {
+	char	*symbol;
+	enum perf_pmu_event_symbol_type	type;
+};
+
 enum {
 	PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_NUM,
 	PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_STR,
@@ -95,6 +107,8 @@ int parse_events_add_breakpoint(struct list_head *list, int *idx,
 				void *ptr, char *type);
 int parse_events_add_pmu(struct list_head *list, int *idx,
 			 char *pmu , struct list_head *head_config);
+enum perf_pmu_event_symbol_type
+perf_pmu__parse_check(const char *name);
 void parse_events__set_leader(char *name, struct list_head *list);
 void parse_events_update_lists(struct list_head *list_event,
 			       struct list_head *list_all);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
index 93a41ca96b8e0c6f0f927b20209c58c676a98384..e243ad962a4d8876aecaafccf18858df2e52118f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
@@ -12,16 +12,6 @@
 #include "parse-events.h"
 #include "cpumap.h"
 
-#define UNIT_MAX_LEN	31 /* max length for event unit name */
-
-struct perf_pmu_alias {
-	char *name;
-	struct list_head terms; /* HEAD struct parse_events_term -> list */
-	struct list_head list;  /* ELEM */
-	char unit[UNIT_MAX_LEN+1];
-	double scale;
-};
-
 struct perf_pmu_format {
 	char *name;
 	int value;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/pmu.h b/tools/perf/util/pmu.h
index fe90a012c003b18c07ec15bdf3c4f1ffd13224d0..fe9dfbee8eed96c710c45883927a45c7d7ebf652 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/pmu.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/pmu.h
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ struct perf_pmu_info {
 	double scale;
 };
 
+#define UNIT_MAX_LEN	31 /* max length for event unit name */
+
+struct perf_pmu_alias {
+	char *name;
+	struct list_head terms; /* HEAD struct parse_events_term -> list */
+	struct list_head list;  /* ELEM */
+	char unit[UNIT_MAX_LEN+1];
+	double scale;
+};
+
 struct perf_pmu *perf_pmu__find(const char *name);
 int perf_pmu__config(struct perf_pmu *pmu, struct perf_event_attr *attr,
 		     struct list_head *head_terms);