diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.config b/tools/perf/Makefile.config
index f2ca4f37dfa6..57a4450f0f04 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.config
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.config
@@ -24,20 +24,22 @@ $(call detected_var,SRCARCH)
 
 NO_PERF_REGS := 1
 
-NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 1
-
-ifeq ($(SRCARCH),x86)
-  ifeq (${IS_64_BIT}, 1)
-    NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 0
-  endif
-else
-  ifeq ($(SRCARCH),$(filter $(SRCARCH),powerpc arm64 s390))
-    NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 0
-  endif
-endif
-
 ifneq ($(NO_SYSCALL_TABLE),1)
-  CFLAGS += -DHAVE_SYSCALL_TABLE_SUPPORT
+  NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 1
+
+  ifeq ($(SRCARCH),x86)
+    ifeq (${IS_64_BIT}, 1)
+      NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 0
+    endif
+  else
+    ifeq ($(SRCARCH),$(filter $(SRCARCH),powerpc arm64 s390))
+      NO_SYSCALL_TABLE := 0
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  ifneq ($(NO_SYSCALL_TABLE),1)
+    CFLAGS += -DHAVE_SYSCALL_TABLE_SUPPORT
+  endif
 endif
 
 # Additional ARCH settings for ppc
diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 30e41dcd4095..e3a34af38130 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ include ../scripts/utilities.mak
 #
 # Define LIBBPF_DYNAMIC to enable libbpf dynamic linking.
 #
+# Define NO_SYSCALL_TABLE=1 to disable the use of syscall id to/from name tables
+# generated from the kernel .tbl or unistd.h files and use, if available, libaudit
+# for doing the conversions to/from strings/id.
 
 # As per kernel Makefile, avoid funny character set dependencies
 unexport LC_ALL