diff --git a/tools/perf/util/dso.c b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
index 2309196d8df3..b86969dc6e81 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/dso.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
@@ -582,9 +582,18 @@ static char *dso__get_filename(struct dso *dso, const char *root_dir,
 		goto out;
 
 	if (!is_regular_file(name)) {
+		struct stat st;
 		char *new_name;
 
-		if (errno != ENOENT || dso__nsinfo(dso) == NULL)
+		/*
+		 * errno only reflects the failure reason when stat() itself
+		 * failed: a successful stat() on a non-regular file (e.g. a
+		 * directory) leaves a stale errno, which a previous failed
+		 * iteration of the try_to_open_dso() fallback loop may have
+		 * set to ENOENT.
+		 */
+		if (stat(name, &st) == 0 || errno != ENOENT ||
+		    dso__nsinfo(dso) == NULL)
 			goto out;
 
 		new_name = dso__filename_with_chroot(dso, name);
@@ -640,10 +649,13 @@ static int __open_dso(struct dso *dso, struct machine *machine)
 	mutex_lock(dso__lock(dso));
 
 	name = dso__get_filename(dso, machine ? machine->root_dir : "", &decomp);
-	if (name)
+	if (name) {
 		fd = do_open(name);
-	else
+	} else {
+		if (errno == 0)
+			errno = ENOENT;
 		fd = -errno;
+	}
 
 	if (decomp)
 		unlink(name);