diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 5ecf8f836f30..2a1729e7aee4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2847,9 +2847,23 @@ static bool find_process(const char *name)
 	return ret ? false : true;
 }
 
+static bool is_amd(const char *arch, const char *cpuid)
+{
+	return arch && !strcmp("x86", arch) && cpuid && strstarts(cpuid, "AuthenticAMD");
+}
+
+static bool is_amd_ibs(struct evsel *evsel)
+{
+	return evsel->core.attr.precise_ip
+	    || (evsel->pmu_name && !strncmp(evsel->pmu_name, "ibs", 3));
+}
+
 int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
 			 int err, char *msg, size_t size)
 {
+	struct perf_env *env = evsel__env(evsel);
+	const char *arch = perf_env__arch(env);
+	const char *cpuid = perf_env__cpuid(env);
 	char sbuf[STRERR_BUFSIZE];
 	int printed = 0, enforced = 0;
 
@@ -2953,6 +2967,17 @@ int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
 			return scnprintf(msg, size,
 	"Invalid event (%s) in per-thread mode, enable system wide with '-a'.",
 					evsel__name(evsel));
+		if (is_amd(arch, cpuid)) {
+			if (is_amd_ibs(evsel)) {
+				if (evsel->core.attr.exclude_kernel)
+					return scnprintf(msg, size,
+	"AMD IBS can't exclude kernel events.  Try running at a higher privilege level.");
+				if (!evsel->core.system_wide)
+					return scnprintf(msg, size,
+	"AMD IBS may only be available in system-wide/per-cpu mode.  Try using -a, or -C and workload affinity");
+			}
+		}
+
 		break;
 	case ENODATA:
 		return scnprintf(msg, size, "Cannot collect data source with the load latency event alone. "