diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile b/tools/perf/Makefile
index e8346f95fbb085ca629a821cb091d6c93337bac7..714db7327b94c7f102ed8079032ba78f55c41f21 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile
@@ -157,9 +157,14 @@ uname_R := $(shell sh -c 'uname -r 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_P := $(shell sh -c 'uname -p 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_V := $(shell sh -c 'uname -v 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 
+# If we're on a 64-bit kernel, use -m64
+ifneq ($(patsubst %64,%,$(uname_M)),$(uname_M))
+  M64 := -m64
+endif
+
 # CFLAGS and LDFLAGS are for the users to override from the command line.
 
-CFLAGS = -ggdb3 -Wall -Werror -Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-declarations -Wmissing-prototypes -std=gnu99 -Wdeclaration-after-statement -O6
+CFLAGS = $(M64) -ggdb3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-declarations -Wmissing-prototypes -std=gnu99 -Wdeclaration-after-statement -O6
 LDFLAGS = -lpthread -lrt -lelf -lm
 ALL_CFLAGS = $(CFLAGS)
 ALL_LDFLAGS = $(LDFLAGS)