diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-top.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-top.txt
index 114fda12aa49..d4be6061fe1c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-top.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-top.txt
@@ -242,6 +242,11 @@ Default is to monitor all CPUS.
 --hierarchy::
 	Enable hierarchy output.
 
+--overwrite::
+	This is the default, but for investigating problems with it or any other strange
+	behaviour like lots of unknown samples, we may want to disable this mode by using
+	--no-overwrite.
+
 --force::
 	Don't do ownership validation.
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index d21d8751e749..214fad747b04 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1372,6 +1372,8 @@ int cmd_top(int argc, const char **argv)
 		    "Show raw trace event output (do not use print fmt or plugins)"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "hierarchy", &symbol_conf.report_hierarchy,
 		    "Show entries in a hierarchy"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "overwrite", &top.record_opts.overwrite,
+		    "Use a backward ring buffer, default: yes"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "force", &symbol_conf.force, "don't complain, do it"),
 	OPT_UINTEGER(0, "num-thread-synthesize", &top.nr_threads_synthesize,
 			"number of thread to run event synthesize"),