diff --git a/tools/perf/config/Makefile b/tools/perf/config/Makefile
index 729bbdf5cec7c663cda5d678c9960e471bb17c77..319426f632fccf963fbf8e73a745f1a3e0e7b5e9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/config/Makefile
+++ b/tools/perf/config/Makefile
@@ -447,6 +447,7 @@ else
   ifneq ($(feature-libperl), 1)
     CFLAGS += -DNO_LIBPERL
     NO_LIBPERL := 1
+    msg := $(warning Missing perl devel files. Disabling perl scripting support, consider installing perl-ExtUtils-Embed);
   else
     LDFLAGS += $(PERL_EMBED_LDFLAGS)
     EXTLIBS += $(PERL_EMBED_LIBADD)