diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index d5e1670bca20..1d79801f4e84 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -2403,6 +2403,14 @@ int cmd_stat(int argc, const char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
+	if (stat_config.interval_clear && !isatty(fileno(output))) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "--interval-clear does not work with output\n");
+		parse_options_usage(stat_usage, stat_options, "o", 1);
+		parse_options_usage(NULL, stat_options, "log-fd", 0);
+		parse_options_usage(NULL, stat_options, "interval-clear", 0);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	stat_config.output = output;
 
 	/*