diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/stat_bpf_counters.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/stat_bpf_counters.sh
index 85eb689fe202..6b156dd85469 100755
--- a/tools/perf/tests/shell/stat_bpf_counters.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/stat_bpf_counters.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,15 @@ if ! perf stat --bpf-counters true > /dev/null 2>&1; then
 fi
 
 base_cycles=$(perf stat --no-big-num -e cycles -- perf bench sched messaging -g 1 -l 100 -t 2>&1 | awk '/cycles/ {print $1}')
+if [ "$base_cycles" == "<not" ]; then
+	echo "Skipping: cycles event not counted"
+	exit 2
+fi
 bpf_cycles=$(perf stat --no-big-num --bpf-counters -e cycles -- perf bench sched messaging -g 1 -l 100 -t 2>&1 | awk '/cycles/ {print $1}')
+if [ "$bpf_cycles" == "<not" ]; then
+	echo "Failed: cycles not counted with --bpf-counters"
+	exit 1
+fi
 
 compare_number $base_cycles $bpf_cycles
 exit 0