#define ERR_PERF_OPEN \
 "Error: counter %d, sys_perf_event_open() syscall returned with %d (%s)\n"
 
-static void create_perf_stat_counter(int counter)
+static int create_perf_stat_counter(int counter)
 {
        struct perf_event_attr *attr = attrs + counter;
        int thread;
+       int ncreated = 0;
 
        if (scale)
                attr->read_format = PERF_FORMAT_TOTAL_TIME_ENABLED |
                for (cpu = 0; cpu < nr_cpus; cpu++) {
                        fd[cpu][counter][0] = sys_perf_event_open(attr,
                                        -1, cpumap[cpu], -1, 0);
-                       if (fd[cpu][counter][0] < 0 && verbose)
-                               fprintf(stderr, ERR_PERF_OPEN, counter,
-                                       fd[cpu][counter][0], strerror(errno));
+                       if (fd[cpu][counter][0] < 0)
+                               pr_debug(ERR_PERF_OPEN, counter,
+                                        fd[cpu][counter][0], strerror(errno));
+                       else
+                               ++ncreated;
                }
        } else {
                attr->inherit        = inherit;
                for (thread = 0; thread < thread_num; thread++) {
                        fd[0][counter][thread] = sys_perf_event_open(attr,
                                all_tids[thread], -1, -1, 0);
-                       if (fd[0][counter][thread] < 0 && verbose)
-                               fprintf(stderr, ERR_PERF_OPEN, counter,
-                                       fd[0][counter][thread],
-                                       strerror(errno));
+                       if (fd[0][counter][thread] < 0)
+                               pr_debug(ERR_PERF_OPEN, counter,
+                                        fd[0][counter][thread],
+                                        strerror(errno));
+                       else
+                               ++ncreated;
                }
        }
+
+       return ncreated;
 }
 
 /*
 {
        unsigned long long t0, t1;
        int status = 0;
-       int counter;
+       int counter, ncreated = 0;
        int child_ready_pipe[2], go_pipe[2];
        const bool forks = (argc > 0);
        char buf;
        }
 
        for (counter = 0; counter < nr_counters; counter++)
-               create_perf_stat_counter(counter);
+               ncreated += create_perf_stat_counter(counter);
+
+       if (ncreated == 0) {
+               pr_err("No permission to collect %sstats.\n"
+                      "Consider tweaking /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid.\n",
+                      system_wide ? "system-wide " : "");
+               if (child_pid != -1)
+                       kill(child_pid, SIGTERM);
+               return -1;
+       }
 
        /*
         * Enable counters and exec the command:
                status = run_perf_stat(argc, argv);
        }
 
-       print_stat(argc, argv);
+       if (status != -1)
+               print_stat(argc, argv);
 
        return status;
 }