diff --git a/tools/perf/util/header.c b/tools/perf/util/header.c
index 9e3a08b1f8ae..f4e0e257ff72 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/header.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/header.c
@@ -2748,8 +2748,9 @@ static int process_tracing_data(struct feat_fd *ff __maybe_unused, void *data __
 
 	return ret < 0 ? -1 : 0;
 #else
-	pr_err("ERROR: Trying to read tracing data without libtraceevent support.\n");
-	return -1;
+	/* Not an error — the feature is simply unsupported in this build */
+	pr_debug("Tracing data present but libtraceevent not available, skipping.\n");
+	return 0;
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -3643,8 +3644,9 @@ static int process_bpf_prog_info(struct feat_fd *ff __maybe_unused, void *data _
 	up_write(&env->bpf_progs.lock);
 	return err;
 #else
-	pr_err("ERROR: Trying to read bpf_prog_info without libbpf support.\n");
-	return -1;
+	/* Not an error — the feature is simply unsupported in this build */
+	pr_debug("BPF prog info present but libbpf not available, skipping.\n");
+	return 0;
 #endif // HAVE_LIBBPF_SUPPORT
 }
 
@@ -3712,8 +3714,9 @@ static int process_bpf_btf(struct feat_fd *ff  __maybe_unused, void *data __mayb
 	free(node);
 	return err;
 #else
-	pr_err("ERROR: Trying to read btf data without libbpf support.\n");
-	return -1;
+	/* Not an error — the feature is simply unsupported in this build */
+	pr_debug("BTF data present but libbpf not available, skipping.\n");
+	return 0;
 #endif // HAVE_LIBBPF_SUPPORT
 }
 
@@ -4900,7 +4903,7 @@ int perf_session__read_header(struct perf_session *session)
 	struct perf_file_header	f_header;
 	struct perf_file_attr	f_attr;
 	u64			f_id;
-	int nr_attrs, nr_ids, i, j, err;
+	int nr_attrs, nr_ids, i, j, err = -ENOMEM;
 	int fd = perf_data__fd(data);
 
 	session->evlist = evlist__new();
@@ -4920,6 +4923,7 @@ int perf_session__read_header(struct perf_session *session)
 		return err;
 	}
 
+	err = -ENOMEM;
 	if (perf_file_header__read(&f_header, header, fd) < 0)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
@@ -4997,15 +5001,36 @@ int perf_session__read_header(struct perf_session *session)
 		lseek(fd, tmp, SEEK_SET);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Skip feature section processing for truncated files
+	 * (data.size == 0 means recording was interrupted).  The
+	 * section table is unreliable in that case, and the event
+	 * data can still be processed without the feature headers.
+	 * Clear the bitmap so has_feat() returns false and tools
+	 * use their "feature not present" fallbacks instead of
+	 * accessing uninitialized env fields.
+	 */
+	if (f_header.data.size == 0) {
+		bitmap_zero(header->adds_features, HEADER_FEAT_BITS);
+	} else {
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBTRACEEVENT
-	perf_header__process_sections(header, fd, &session->tevent,
-				      perf_file_section__process);
+		err = perf_header__process_sections(header, fd, &session->tevent,
+						    perf_file_section__process);
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto out_delete_evlist;
 
-	if (evlist__prepare_tracepoint_events(session->evlist, session->tevent.pevent))
-		goto out_delete_evlist;
+		if (evlist__prepare_tracepoint_events(session->evlist,
+						      session->tevent.pevent)) {
+			err = -ENOMEM;
+			goto out_delete_evlist;
+		}
 #else
-	perf_header__process_sections(header, fd, NULL, perf_file_section__process);
+		err = perf_header__process_sections(header, fd, NULL,
+						    perf_file_section__process);
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto out_delete_evlist;
 #endif
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 out_errno:
@@ -5014,7 +5039,7 @@ int perf_session__read_header(struct perf_session *session)
 out_delete_evlist:
 	evlist__delete(session->evlist);
 	session->evlist = NULL;
-	return -ENOMEM;
+	return err;
 }
 
 int perf_event__process_feature(const struct perf_tool *tool __maybe_unused,