diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.config b/tools/perf/Makefile.config
index 333ddd0e4bd8..06d7a3f9990c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.config
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.config
@@ -923,7 +923,7 @@ ifdef BUILD_NONDISTRO
   $(call feature_check,libbfd-liberty-z)
 
   ifneq ($(feature-libbfd-threadsafe), 1)
-    $(error binutils 2.42 or later is required for non-distro builds)
+    $(error binutils-dev(el) 2.42 or later is required for non-distro builds)
   endif
 
   # we may be on a system that requires -liberty and (maybe) -lz