diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/record+probe_libc_inet_pton.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/record+probe_libc_inet_pton.sh
index 57e7a6a470c9..08cdd902d0cf 100755
--- a/tools/perf/tests/shell/record+probe_libc_inet_pton.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/record+probe_libc_inet_pton.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ trace_libc_inet_pton_backtrace() {
 	perf_data=`mktemp -u /tmp/perf.data.XXX`
 	perf_script=`mktemp -u /tmp/perf.script.XXX`
 	perf record -e $event_name/$eventattr/ -o $perf_data ping -6 -c 1 ::1 > /dev/null 2>&1
+	# check if perf data file got created in above step.
+	if [ ! -e $perf_data ]; then
+		printf "FAIL: perf record failed to create \"%s\" \n" "$perf_data"
+		return 1
+	fi
 	perf script -i $perf_data | tac | grep -m1 ^ping -B9 | tac > $perf_script
 
 	exec 3<$perf_script