diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index ec0e91bedce1..876065a02de6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ ifeq ($(PYLINT),1)
 endif
 
 export srctree OUTPUT RM CC CXX RUSTC CLANG LD AR CFLAGS CXXFLAGS RUST_FLAGS V BISON FLEX AWK LIBBPF READELF
-export HOSTCC HOSTLD HOSTAR HOSTCFLAGS SHELLCHECK MYPY PYLINT
+export HOSTCC HOSTLD HOSTAR HOSTCFLAGS SHELLCHECK MYPY PYLINT CONFIG_PERF_BPF_SKEL
 
 include $(srctree)/tools/build/Makefile.include
 
@@ -629,8 +629,12 @@ endif
 __build-dir = $(subst $(OUTPUT),,$(dir $@))
 build-dir   = $(or $(__build-dir),.)
 
+bpf-skel-prepare:
+	$(Q)$(MAKE) -f bpf_skel.mak bpf-skel-prepare
+
 prepare: $(OUTPUT)PERF-VERSION-FILE \
 	arm64-sysreg-defs \
+	bpf-skel-prepare \
 	$(LIBAPI) \
 	$(LIBPERF) \
 	$(LIBSUBCMD) \
@@ -971,7 +975,7 @@ FORCE:
 
 .PHONY: all install clean config-clean strip install-gtk
 .PHONY: shell_compatibility_test please_set_SHELL_PATH_to_a_more_modern_shell
-.PHONY: .FORCE-PERF-VERSION-FILE TAGS tags cscope FORCE prepare
+.PHONY: .FORCE-PERF-VERSION-FILE TAGS tags cscope FORCE prepare bpf-skel-prepare
 .PHONY: python_perf_target
 
 endif # force_fixdep
diff --git a/tools/perf/bpf_skel.mak b/tools/perf/bpf_skel.mak
index 30924ad140c4..7704e7e635d8 100644
--- a/tools/perf/bpf_skel.mak
+++ b/tools/perf/bpf_skel.mak
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ ifeq ($(CONFIG_PERF_BPF_SKEL),y)
 BPFTOOL := $(SKEL_TOOL_TMP_OUT)/bootstrap/bpftool
 VMLINUX_H := $(SKEL_TOOL_OUT)/vmlinux.h
 
+.PHONY: bpf-skel-prepare
+bpf-skel-prepare: $(BPFTOOL) $(VMLINUX_H)
+	@:
+
 define get_sys_includes
 $(shell $(1) $(2) -v -E - </dev/null 2>&1 \
        | sed -n '/<...> search starts here:/,/End of search list./{ s| \(/.*\)|-idirafter \1|p }') \
@@ -93,6 +97,10 @@ $(SKEL_OUT)/%.skel.h: $(SKEL_TMP_OUT)/%.bpf.o $(BPFTOOL)
 
 .PRECIOUS: $(SKEL_TMP_OUT)/%.bpf.o
 
+else # CONFIG_PERF_BPF_SKEL
+.PHONY: bpf-skel-prepare
+bpf-skel-prepare:
+	@:
 endif # CONFIG_PERF_BPF_SKEL
 
 clean: