diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
index 99400b0e8f2a..adbc6c02c3aa 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
@@ -537,6 +537,12 @@ int sysfs__read_build_id(const char *filename, void *build_id, size_t size)
 				break;
 		} else {
 			int n = namesz + descsz;
+
+			if (n > (int)sizeof(bf)) {
+				n = sizeof(bf);
+				pr_debug("%s: truncating reading of build id in sysfs file %s: n_namesz=%u, n_descsz=%u.\n",
+					 __func__, filename, nhdr.n_namesz, nhdr.n_descsz);
+			}
 			if (read(fd, bf, n) != n)
 				break;
 		}