diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 47c906b807ef..afeb4e4a8a31 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -1272,9 +1272,24 @@ endif # CONFIG_PERF_BPF_SKEL
 bpf-skel-clean:
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, bpf-skel) $(RM) -r $(SKEL_TMP_OUT) $(SKELETONS) $(SKEL_OUT)/vmlinux.h
 
+pmu-events-clean:
+ifeq ($(OUTPUT),)
+	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, pmu-events) $(RM) \
+		pmu-events/pmu-events.c \
+		pmu-events/metric_test.log \
+		pmu-events/test-empty-pmu-events.c \
+		pmu-events/empty-pmu-events.log
+else # When an OUTPUT directory is present, clean up the copied pmu-events/arch directory.
+	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, pmu-events) $(RM) -r $(OUTPUT)pmu-events/arch \
+		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/pmu-events.c \
+		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/metric_test.log \
+		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/test-empty-pmu-events.c \
+		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/empty-pmu-events.log
+endif
+
 clean:: $(LIBAPI)-clean $(LIBBPF)-clean $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean $(LIBSYMBOL)-clean $(LIBPERF)-clean \
 		arm64-sysreg-defs-clean fixdep-clean python-clean bpf-skel-clean \
-		tests-coresight-targets-clean
+		tests-coresight-targets-clean pmu-events-clean
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, core-objs)  $(RM) $(LIBPERF_A) $(OUTPUT)perf-archive \
 		$(OUTPUT)perf-iostat $(LANG_BINDINGS)
 	$(Q)find $(or $(OUTPUT),.) -name '*.o' -delete -o -name '*.a' -delete -o \
@@ -1287,10 +1302,6 @@ clean:: $(LIBAPI)-clean $(LIBBPF)-clean $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean $(LIBSYMBOL)-clean $(
 		$(OUTPUT)FEATURE-DUMP $(OUTPUT)util/*-bison* $(OUTPUT)util/*-flex* \
 		$(OUTPUT)util/intel-pt-decoder/inat-tables.c \
 		$(OUTPUT)tests/llvm-src-{base,kbuild,prologue,relocation}.c \
-		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/pmu-events.c \
-		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/test-empty-pmu-events.c \
-		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/empty-pmu-events.log \
-		$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/metric_test.log \
 		$(OUTPUT)$(fadvise_advice_array) \
 		$(OUTPUT)$(fsconfig_arrays) \
 		$(OUTPUT)$(fsmount_arrays) \
diff --git a/tools/perf/pmu-events/Build b/tools/perf/pmu-events/Build
index 32f387d48908..1503a16e662a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/pmu-events/Build
+++ b/tools/perf/pmu-events/Build
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 pmu-events-y	+= pmu-events.o
 JDIR		=  pmu-events/arch/$(SRCARCH)
-JSON		=  $(shell [ -d $(JDIR) ] &&				\
-			find $(JDIR) -name '*.json' -o -name 'mapfile.csv')
+JSON		=  $(shell find pmu-events/arch -name *.json -o -name *.csv)
 JDIR_TEST	=  pmu-events/arch/test
 JSON_TEST	=  $(shell [ -d $(JDIR_TEST) ] &&			\
 			find $(JDIR_TEST) -name '*.json')
@@ -29,13 +28,20 @@ $(PMU_EVENTS_C): $(EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_C)
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
 	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)cp $< $@
 else
+# Copy checked-in json for generation.
+$(OUTPUT)pmu-events/arch/%: pmu-events/arch/%
+	$(call rule_mkdir)
+	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)cp $< $@
+
+GEN_JSON = $(patsubst %,$(OUTPUT)%,$(JSON))
+
 $(METRIC_TEST_LOG): $(METRIC_TEST_PY) $(METRIC_PY)
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
 	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,test)$(PYTHON) $< 2> $@ || (cat $@ && false)
 
-$(TEST_EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_C): $(JSON) $(JSON_TEST) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(METRIC_PY) $(METRIC_TEST_LOG)
+$(TEST_EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_C): $(GEN_JSON) $(JSON_TEST) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(METRIC_PY) $(METRIC_TEST_LOG)
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
-	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)$(PYTHON) $(JEVENTS_PY) none none pmu-events/arch $@
+	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)$(PYTHON) $(JEVENTS_PY) none none $(OUTPUT)pmu-events/arch $@
 
 $(EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_TEST_LOG): $(EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_C) $(TEST_EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_C)
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
@@ -63,10 +69,10 @@ $(OUTPUT)%.pylint_log: %
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
 	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,test)pylint "$<" > $@ || (cat $@ && rm $@ && false)
 
-$(PMU_EVENTS_C): $(JSON) $(JSON_TEST) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(METRIC_PY) $(METRIC_TEST_LOG) \
+$(PMU_EVENTS_C): $(GEN_JSON) $(JSON_TEST) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(METRIC_PY) $(METRIC_TEST_LOG) \
     $(EMPTY_PMU_EVENTS_TEST_LOG) $(PMU_EVENTS_MYPY_TEST_LOGS) $(PMU_EVENTS_PYLINT_TEST_LOGS)
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
-	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)$(PYTHON) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(JEVENTS_ARCH) $(JEVENTS_MODEL) pmu-events/arch $@
+	$(Q)$(call echo-cmd,gen)$(PYTHON) $(JEVENTS_PY) $(JEVENTS_ARCH) $(JEVENTS_MODEL) $(OUTPUT)pmu-events/arch $@
 endif
 
 # pmu-events.c file is generated in the OUTPUT directory so it needs a