diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 9b4f3805ca92..db814eadc16b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -1360,7 +1360,7 @@ static int record__open(struct record *rec)
 	evlist__for_each_entry(evlist, pos) {
 try_again:
 		if (evsel__open(pos, pos->core.cpus, pos->core.threads) < 0) {
-			if (evsel__fallback(pos, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
+			if (evsel__fallback(pos, &opts->target, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
 				if (verbose > 0)
 					ui__warning("%s\n", msg);
 				goto try_again;
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index a3af805a1d57..d8e5d6f7a87a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ static enum counter_recovery stat_handle_error(struct evsel *counter)
 		if ((evsel__leader(counter) != counter) ||
 		    !(counter->core.leader->nr_members > 1))
 			return COUNTER_SKIP;
-	} else if (evsel__fallback(counter, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
+	} else if (evsel__fallback(counter, &target, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
 		if (verbose > 0)
 			ui__warning("%s\n", msg);
 		return COUNTER_RETRY;
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index ea8c7eca5eee..1e42bd1c7d5a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ try_again:
 			    perf_top_overwrite_fallback(top, counter))
 				goto try_again;
 
-			if (evsel__fallback(counter, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
+			if (evsel__fallback(counter, &opts->target, errno, msg, sizeof(msg))) {
 				if (verbose > 0)
 					ui__warning("%s\n", msg);
 				goto try_again;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index a5da74e3a517..532f34d9fcb5 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2853,7 +2853,8 @@ u64 evsel__intval_common(struct evsel *evsel, struct perf_sample *sample, const
 
 #endif
 
-bool evsel__fallback(struct evsel *evsel, int err, char *msg, size_t msgsize)
+bool evsel__fallback(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target, int err,
+		     char *msg, size_t msgsize)
 {
 	int paranoid;
 
@@ -2861,18 +2862,19 @@ bool evsel__fallback(struct evsel *evsel, int err, char *msg, size_t msgsize)
 	    evsel->core.attr.type   == PERF_TYPE_HARDWARE &&
 	    evsel->core.attr.config == PERF_COUNT_HW_CPU_CYCLES) {
 		/*
-		 * If it's cycles then fall back to hrtimer based
-		 * cpu-clock-tick sw counter, which is always available even if
-		 * no PMU support.
+		 * If it's cycles then fall back to hrtimer based cpu-clock sw
+		 * counter, which is always available even if no PMU support.
 		 *
 		 * PPC returns ENXIO until 2.6.37 (behavior changed with commit
 		 * b0a873e).
 		 */
-		scnprintf(msg, msgsize, "%s",
-"The cycles event is not supported, trying to fall back to cpu-clock-ticks");
-
 		evsel->core.attr.type   = PERF_TYPE_SOFTWARE;
-		evsel->core.attr.config = PERF_COUNT_SW_CPU_CLOCK;
+		evsel->core.attr.config = target__has_cpu(target)
+			? PERF_COUNT_SW_CPU_CLOCK
+			: PERF_COUNT_SW_TASK_CLOCK;
+		scnprintf(msg, msgsize,
+			"The cycles event is not supported, trying to fall back to %s",
+			target__has_cpu(target) ? "cpu-clock" : "task-clock");
 
 		zfree(&evsel->name);
 		return true;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
index f19ac9f027ef..efbb6e848287 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
@@ -460,7 +460,8 @@ static inline bool evsel__is_clock(const struct evsel *evsel)
 	       evsel__match(evsel, SOFTWARE, SW_TASK_CLOCK);
 }
 
-bool evsel__fallback(struct evsel *evsel, int err, char *msg, size_t msgsize);
+bool evsel__fallback(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target, int err,
+		     char *msg, size_t msgsize);
 int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
 			 int err, char *msg, size_t size);