diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-probe.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-probe.txt
index 39e387042098..736da44596e4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-probe.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-probe.txt
@@ -152,7 +152,9 @@ Probe points are defined by following syntax.
      [[GROUP:]EVENT=]SRC;PTN [ARG ...]
 
     4) Pre-defined SDT events or cached event with name
-     %[PROVIDER:]SDTEVENT
+     %[sdt_PROVIDER:]SDTEVENT
+     or,
+     sdt_PROVIDER:SDTEVENT
 
 'EVENT' specifies the name of new event, if omitted, it will be set the name of the probed function. You can also specify a group name by 'GROUP', if omitted, set 'probe' is used for kprobe and 'probe_<bin>' is used for uprobe.
 Note that using existing group name can conflict with other events. Especially, using the group name reserved for kernel modules can hide embedded events in the
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/probe-event.c b/tools/perf/util/probe-event.c
index f12081e48a32..d4f8835c0a27 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/probe-event.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/probe-event.c
@@ -1243,9 +1243,17 @@ static int parse_perf_probe_point(char *arg, struct perf_probe_event *pev)
 	if (!arg)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	if (arg[0] == '%') {
+	/*
+	 * If the probe point starts with '%',
+	 * or starts with "sdt_" and has a ':' but no '=',
+	 * then it should be a SDT/cached probe point.
+	 */
+	if (arg[0] == '%' ||
+	    (!strncmp(arg, "sdt_", 4) &&
+	     !!strchr(arg, ':') && !strchr(arg, '='))) {
 		pev->sdt = true;
-		arg++;
+		if (arg[0] == '%')
+			arg++;
 	}
 
 	ptr = strpbrk(arg, ";=@+%");