diff --git a/tools/perf/util/dso.c b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
index e8e9a9dbf5e3..8e6395439ca0 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/dso.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ int dso__read_binary_type_filename(const struct dso *dso,
 			debuglink--;
 		if (*debuglink == '/')
 			debuglink++;
+
+		ret = -1;
+		if (!is_regular_file(filename))
+			break;
+
 		ret = filename__read_debuglink(filename, debuglink,
 					       size - (debuglink - filename));
 		}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
index ab02209a7cf3..90cedfa30e43 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
@@ -1466,7 +1466,8 @@ int dso__load(struct dso *dso, struct map *map, symbol_filter_t filter)
 	 * Read the build id if possible. This is required for
 	 * DSO_BINARY_TYPE__BUILDID_DEBUGINFO to work
 	 */
-	if (filename__read_build_id(dso->long_name, build_id, BUILD_ID_SIZE) > 0)
+	if (is_regular_file(name) &&
+	    filename__read_build_id(dso->long_name, build_id, BUILD_ID_SIZE) > 0)
 		dso__set_build_id(dso, build_id);
 
 	/*
@@ -1487,6 +1488,9 @@ int dso__load(struct dso *dso, struct map *map, symbol_filter_t filter)
 						   root_dir, name, PATH_MAX))
 			continue;
 
+		if (!is_regular_file(name))
+			continue;
+
 		/* Name is now the name of the next image to try */
 		if (symsrc__init(ss, dso, name, symtab_type) < 0)
 			continue;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.c b/tools/perf/util/util.c
index ead9509835d2..7a2da7ef556e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.c
@@ -691,3 +691,13 @@ out:
 
 	return tip;
 }
+
+bool is_regular_file(const char *file)
+{
+	struct stat st;
+
+	if (stat(file, &st))
+		return false;
+
+	return S_ISREG(st.st_mode);
+}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.h b/tools/perf/util/util.h
index fe915e616f9b..61650f05e5c1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.h
@@ -343,5 +343,6 @@ int fetch_kernel_version(unsigned int *puint,
 #define KVER_PARAM(x)	KVER_VERSION(x), KVER_PATCHLEVEL(x), KVER_SUBLEVEL(x)
 
 const char *perf_tip(const char *dirpath);
+bool is_regular_file(const char *file);
 
 #endif /* GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H */