diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
index e297b74471b8..ca0d3d9f4bac 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
@@ -90,8 +90,20 @@ OPTIONS
 	Number of mmap data pages. Must be a power of two.
 
 -g::
+	Enables call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording.
+
 --call-graph::
-	Do call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording.
+	Setup and enable call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording,
+	implies -g.
+
+	Allows specifying "fp" (frame pointer) or "dwarf"
+	(DWARF's CFI - Call Frame Information) as the method to collect
+	the information used to show the call graphs.
+
+	In some systems, where binaries are build with gcc
+	--fomit-frame-pointer, using the "fp" method will produce bogus
+	call graphs, using "dwarf", if available (perf tools linked to
+	the libunwind library) should be used instead.
 
 -q::
 --quiet::
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index a41ac41546c9..d04651484640 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -712,21 +712,12 @@ static int get_stack_size(char *str, unsigned long *_size)
 }
 #endif /* LIBUNWIND_SUPPORT */
 
-int record_parse_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt,
-			       const char *arg, int unset)
+int record_parse_callchain(const char *arg, struct perf_record_opts *opts)
 {
-	struct perf_record_opts *opts = opt->value;
 	char *tok, *name, *saveptr = NULL;
 	char *buf;
 	int ret = -1;
 
-	/* --no-call-graph */
-	if (unset)
-		return 0;
-
-	/* We specified default option if none is provided. */
-	BUG_ON(!arg);
-
 	/* We need buffer that we know we can write to. */
 	buf = malloc(strlen(arg) + 1);
 	if (!buf)
@@ -764,13 +755,9 @@ int record_parse_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt,
 				ret = get_stack_size(tok, &size);
 				opts->stack_dump_size = size;
 			}
-
-			if (!ret)
-				pr_debug("callchain: stack dump size %d\n",
-					 opts->stack_dump_size);
 #endif /* LIBUNWIND_SUPPORT */
 		} else {
-			pr_err("callchain: Unknown -g option "
+			pr_err("callchain: Unknown --call-graph option "
 			       "value: %s\n", arg);
 			break;
 		}
@@ -778,13 +765,52 @@ int record_parse_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt,
 	} while (0);
 
 	free(buf);
+	return ret;
+}
 
+static void callchain_debug(struct perf_record_opts *opts)
+{
+	pr_debug("callchain: type %d\n", opts->call_graph);
+
+	if (opts->call_graph == CALLCHAIN_DWARF)
+		pr_debug("callchain: stack dump size %d\n",
+			 opts->stack_dump_size);
+}
+
+int record_parse_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt,
+			       const char *arg,
+			       int unset)
+{
+	struct perf_record_opts *opts = opt->value;
+	int ret;
+
+	/* --no-call-graph */
+	if (unset) {
+		opts->call_graph = CALLCHAIN_NONE;
+		pr_debug("callchain: disabled\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	ret = record_parse_callchain(arg, opts);
 	if (!ret)
-		pr_debug("callchain: type %d\n", opts->call_graph);
+		callchain_debug(opts);
 
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int record_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt,
+			 const char *arg __maybe_unused,
+			 int unset __maybe_unused)
+{
+	struct perf_record_opts *opts = opt->value;
+
+	if (opts->call_graph == CALLCHAIN_NONE)
+		opts->call_graph = CALLCHAIN_FP;
+
+	callchain_debug(opts);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static const char * const record_usage[] = {
 	"perf record [<options>] [<command>]",
 	"perf record [<options>] -- <command> [<options>]",
@@ -813,12 +839,12 @@ static struct perf_record record = {
 	},
 };
 
-#define CALLCHAIN_HELP "do call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording: "
+#define CALLCHAIN_HELP "setup and enables call-graph (stack chain/backtrace) recording: "
 
 #ifdef LIBUNWIND_SUPPORT
-const char record_callchain_help[] = CALLCHAIN_HELP "[fp] dwarf";
+const char record_callchain_help[] = CALLCHAIN_HELP "fp dwarf";
 #else
-const char record_callchain_help[] = CALLCHAIN_HELP "[fp]";
+const char record_callchain_help[] = CALLCHAIN_HELP "fp";
 #endif
 
 /*
@@ -858,9 +884,12 @@ const struct option record_options[] = {
 		     "number of mmap data pages"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "group", &record.opts.group,
 		    "put the counters into a counter group"),
-	OPT_CALLBACK_DEFAULT('g', "call-graph", &record.opts,
-			     "mode[,dump_size]", record_callchain_help,
-			     &record_parse_callchain_opt, "fp"),
+	OPT_CALLBACK_NOOPT('g', NULL, &record.opts,
+			   NULL, "enables call-graph recording" ,
+			   &record_callchain_opt),
+	OPT_CALLBACK(0, "call-graph", &record.opts,
+		     "mode[,dump_size]", record_callchain_help,
+		     &record_parse_callchain_opt),
 	OPT_INCR('v', "verbose", &verbose,
 		    "be more verbose (show counter open errors, etc)"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('q', "quiet", &quiet, "don't print any message"),
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/callchain.h b/tools/perf/util/callchain.h
index 2b585bc308cf..9e99060408ae 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/callchain.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/callchain.h
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@ static inline void callchain_cursor_advance(struct callchain_cursor *cursor)
 
 struct option;
 
+int record_parse_callchain(const char *arg, struct perf_record_opts *opts);
 int record_parse_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset);
+int record_callchain_opt(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset);
+
 extern const char record_callchain_help[];
 #endif	/* __PERF_CALLCHAIN_H */