diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 40088a5848d6..6ab58cc99d53 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ try_again:
 			int err = errno;
 
 			if (err == EPERM || err == EACCES) {
-				ui__warning_paranoid();
+				ui__error_paranoid();
 				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 			} else if (err ==  ENODEV && cpu_list) {
 				die("No such device - did you specify"
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index d2fc7542e826..31aa82c39e2a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ try_again:
 			int err = errno;
 
 			if (err == EPERM || err == EACCES) {
-				ui__warning_paranoid();
+				ui__error_paranoid();
 				goto out_err;
 			}
 			/*
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/debug.c b/tools/perf/util/debug.c
index 155749d74350..55634038af6b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/debug.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/debug.c
@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@ void ui__warning(const char *format, ...)
 }
 #endif
 
-void ui__warning_paranoid(void)
+void ui__error_paranoid(void)
 {
-	ui__warning("Permission error - are you root?\n"
+	ui__error("Permission error - are you root?\n"
 		    "Consider tweaking /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid:\n"
 		    " -1 - Not paranoid at all\n"
 		    "  0 - Disallow raw tracepoint access for unpriv\n"
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/debug.h b/tools/perf/util/debug.h
index 9c59b9551ada..16cc75227d2b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/debug.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/debug.h
@@ -21,14 +21,16 @@ static inline int ui_helpline__show_help(const char *format __used, va_list ap _
 
 static inline void ui_progress__update(u64 curr __used, u64 total __used,
 				       const char *title __used) {}
+
+#define ui__error(format, arg...) ui__warning(format, ##arg)
 #else
 extern char ui_helpline__last_msg[];
 int ui_helpline__show_help(const char *format, va_list ap);
 #include "ui/progress.h"
+void ui__error(const char *format, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2)));
 #endif
 
 void ui__warning(const char *format, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2)));
-void ui__warning_paranoid(void);
-void ui__error(const char *format, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2)));
+void ui__error_paranoid(void);
 
 #endif	/* __PERF_DEBUG_H */