diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-config.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-config.txt
index 9b223f892829..6cff6f26af8d 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-config.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-config.txt
@@ -217,6 +217,16 @@ core.*::
 		Sets a timeout (in milliseconds) for parsing 'addr2line'
 		output.  The default timeout is 5s.
 
+	hybrid-merge::
+		Merge matching events from all hybrid core PMUs into one display
+		by default. For example, if a wildcard expands to run on both p-cores and
+		e-cores, this aggregates them into a single view. This applies to
+		'perf report' and 'perf top', it is ignored with '--hierarchy' and
+		doesn't alter 'perf stat' where '--hybrid-merge' must be given
+		explicitly. As a default it is silently ignored when there is
+		nothing to merge, such as on a machine with a single core PMU,
+		whereas an explicit '--hybrid-merge' warns.
+
 tui.*, gtk.*::
 	Subcommands that can be configured here are 'top', 'report' and 'annotate'.
 	These values are booleans, for example:
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
index bda4836fc524..57225bc87731 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
@@ -1120,7 +1120,13 @@ static int __cmd_report(struct report *rep)
 		if (evlist__can_merge_hybrid(session->evlist, env)) {
 			evlist__merge_hybrid(session->evlist, env);
 			evlist__merge_hists_hybrid(session->evlist, false);
-		} else {
+		} else if (symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set) {
+			/*
+			 * Only an explicit --hybrid-merge warns. A
+			 * core.hybrid-merge default is silent, as most
+			 * machines aren't hybrid and there is nothing the
+			 * user needs to do about it.
+			 */
 			ui__warning("--hybrid-merge: no events to merge across core PMUs\n");
 		}
 	}
@@ -1460,8 +1466,9 @@ int cmd_report(int argc, const char **argv)
 		    parse_branch_mode),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "branch-history", &branch_call_mode,
 		    "add last branch records to call history"),
-	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "hybrid-merge", &symbol_conf.hybrid_merge,
-		    "merge the same event across hybrid core PMUs"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN_SET(0, "hybrid-merge", &symbol_conf.hybrid_merge,
+			&symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set,
+			"merge the same event across hybrid core PMUs"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "objdump", &objdump_path, "path",
 		   "objdump binary to use for disassembly and annotations"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "addr2line", &addr2line_path, "path",
@@ -1562,9 +1569,14 @@ int cmd_report(int argc, const char **argv)
 	}
 
 	if (symbol_conf.report_hierarchy && symbol_conf.hybrid_merge) {
-		pr_err("Error: --hierarchy and --hybrid-merge are mutually exclusive.\n");
-		ret = -EINVAL;
-		goto exit;
+		if (symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set) {
+			pr_err("Error: --hierarchy and --hybrid-merge are mutually exclusive.\n");
+			ret = -EINVAL;
+			goto exit;
+		}
+		/* A config file default shouldn't fail an explicit option. */
+		pr_warning("core.hybrid-merge ignored: --hierarchy cannot display merged hybrid events\n");
+		symbol_conf.hybrid_merge = false;
 	}
 
 	if (disassembler_style) {
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index 3bb3337f1244..a3442d2d6edf 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1314,9 +1314,11 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
 	}
 
 	/*
-	 * Use global stat_config that is zero meaning aggr_mode is AGGR_NONE
-	 * and hybrid_merge is false.
+	 * Use global stat_config that is zero meaning aggr_mode is AGGR_NONE.
+	 * Merging affects the event names as merged events share a name, all
+	 * other stat_config behavior is unwanted here.
 	 */
+	stat_config.hybrid_merge = symbol_conf.hybrid_merge;
 	evlist__uniquify_evsel_names(top->evlist, &stat_config);
 	ret = perf_top__start_counters(top);
 	if (ret)
@@ -1340,7 +1342,13 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
 		if (evlist__can_merge_hybrid(top->evlist, /*env=*/NULL)) {
 			evlist__merge_hybrid(top->evlist, /*env=*/NULL);
 			evlist__merge_hists_hybrid(top->evlist, false);
-		} else {
+		} else if (symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set) {
+			/*
+			 * Only an explicit --hybrid-merge warns. A
+			 * core.hybrid-merge default is silent, as most
+			 * machines aren't hybrid and there is nothing the
+			 * user needs to do about it.
+			 */
 			ui__warning("--hybrid-merge: no events to merge across core PMUs\n");
 		}
 	}
@@ -1500,8 +1508,9 @@ int cmd_top(int argc, const char **argv)
 	OPT_CALLBACK('e', "event", &parse_events_option_args, "event",
 		     "event selector. use 'perf list' to list available events",
 		     parse_events_option),
-	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "hybrid-merge", &symbol_conf.hybrid_merge,
-		    "merge the same event across hybrid core PMUs"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN_SET(0, "hybrid-merge", &symbol_conf.hybrid_merge,
+			&symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set,
+			"merge the same event across hybrid core PMUs"),
 	OPT_CALLBACK(0, "filter", &top.evlist, "filter",
 		     "event filter", parse_filter),
 	OPT_U64('c', "count", &opts->user_interval, "event period to sample"),
@@ -1691,9 +1700,14 @@ int cmd_top(int argc, const char **argv)
 		usage_with_options(top_usage, options);
 
 	if (symbol_conf.report_hierarchy && symbol_conf.hybrid_merge) {
-		pr_err("Error: --hierarchy and --hybrid-merge are mutually exclusive.\n");
-		status = -EINVAL;
-		goto out_put_evlist;
+		if (symbol_conf.hybrid_merge_set) {
+			pr_err("Error: --hierarchy and --hybrid-merge are mutually exclusive.\n");
+			status = -EINVAL;
+			goto out_put_evlist;
+		}
+		/* A config file default shouldn't fail an explicit option. */
+		pr_warning("core.hybrid-merge ignored: --hierarchy cannot display merged hybrid events\n");
+		symbol_conf.hybrid_merge = false;
 	}
 
 	if (disassembler_style) {
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/config.c b/tools/perf/util/config.c
index b2972c35c1ec..8fe43b032e9a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/config.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/config.c
@@ -470,6 +470,16 @@ static int perf_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.addr2line-disable-warn"))
 		symbol_conf.addr2line_disable_warn = perf_config_bool(var, value);
 
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.hybrid-merge")) {
+		/*
+		 * Note, this is for sampling tools like perf report and top.
+		 * perf stat has its own merging options and the
+		 * stat_config.hybrid_merge of "perf stat --hybrid-merge" is
+		 * deliberately not set here.
+		 */
+		symbol_conf.hybrid_merge = perf_config_bool(var, value);
+	}
+
 	/* Add other config variables here. */
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol_conf.h b/tools/perf/util/symbol_conf.h
index 50317bdaf2b6..37d35f42dcc1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol_conf.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol_conf.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ enum symbol__weight_mode {
 
 struct symbol_conf {
 	bool		hybrid_merge;
+	/* Was hybrid_merge given on the command line rather than in a config file? */
+	bool		hybrid_merge_set;
 	bool		nanosecs;
 	unsigned short	priv_size;
 	bool		try_vmlinux_path,