diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-test.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-test.txt
index 32da0d1fa86a..2f4a91f5b9dc 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-test.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-test.txt
@@ -69,3 +69,15 @@ OPTIONS
 
 --list-workloads::
 	List the available workloads to use with -w/--workload.
+
+--record-ctl=fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo]::
+	This option is used to communicate with a perf record session in order
+	to control the recording scope to only the workload and avoid recording
+	setup and teardown code. When specifying this option, the same FIFO path
+	must be specified in the record session via:
+
+	  perf record -D -1 --control=fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo] ...
+
+	Perf test sends 'enable' and 'disable' commands through ctl-fifo to
+	control event recording. If 'ack-fifo' is provided, the workload runner
+	waits for an 'ack' response after each command.
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/builtin-test.c b/tools/perf/tests/builtin-test.c
index b64fc2204f22..86ea427eb0aa 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/builtin-test.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/builtin-test.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ static unsigned int runs_per_test = 1;
 static unsigned int failure_snippet_lines = 10;
 const char *dso_to_test;
 const char *test_objdump_path = "objdump";
+static const char *workload_control;
 
 /*
  * List of architecture specific tests. Not a weak symbol as the array length is
@@ -168,6 +169,11 @@ static struct test_workload *workloads[] = {
 #endif
 };
 
+struct workload_control {
+	int ctl_fd;
+	int ack_fd;
+};
+
 #define workloads__for_each(workload) \
 	for (unsigned i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(workloads) && ({ workload = workloads[i]; 1; }); i++)
 
@@ -1387,13 +1393,185 @@ static int workloads__fprintf_list(FILE *fp)
 	return printed;
 }
 
+static int perf_control_open_fifo(struct workload_control *ctl, const char *str)
+{
+	char *s, *p;
+	int ret;
+
+	if (strncmp(str, "fifo:", 5))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	str += 5;
+	if (!*str || *str == ',')
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	s = strdup(str);
+	if (!s)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	p = strchr(s, ',');
+	if (p)
+		*p = '\0';
+
+	ctl->ctl_fd = open(s, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+	if (ctl->ctl_fd < 0) {
+		ret = -errno;
+		pr_err("Failed to open workload control FIFO '%s': %m\n", s);
+		free(s);
+		return ret;
+	}
+
+	if (p && *++p) {
+		ctl->ack_fd = open(p, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+		if (ctl->ack_fd < 0) {
+			ret = -errno;
+			pr_err("Failed to open workload control ack FIFO '%s': %m\n", p);
+			close(ctl->ctl_fd);
+			ctl->ctl_fd = -1;
+			free(s);
+			return ret;
+		}
+	}
+
+	free(s);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int perf_control_open(struct workload_control *ctl)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	if (!workload_control)
+		return 0;
+
+	ret = perf_control_open_fifo(ctl, workload_control);
+
+	if (ret == -EINVAL) {
+		pr_err("Unsupported workload control spec '%s', expected fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo]\n",
+			workload_control);
+	}
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static void perf_control_close(struct workload_control *ctl)
+{
+	if (ctl->ctl_fd >= 0) {
+		close(ctl->ctl_fd);
+		ctl->ctl_fd = -1;
+	}
+	if (ctl->ack_fd >= 0) {
+		close(ctl->ack_fd);
+		ctl->ack_fd = -1;
+	}
+}
+
+static int perf_control_write_cmd(int fd, const char *cmd)
+{
+	size_t len = strlen(cmd);
+	ssize_t ret;
+
+	while (len) {
+		ret = write(fd, cmd, len);
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			if (errno == EINTR)
+				continue;
+			pr_err("Failed to write perf control command: %m\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (!ret) {
+			pr_err("Failed to write perf control command: short write\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		cmd += ret;
+		len -= ret;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int perf_control_read_ack(int fd)
+{
+	char buf[16];
+	ssize_t ret;
+
+	do {
+		ret = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf) - 1);
+	} while (ret < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		pr_err("Failed to read perf control ack: %m\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if (!ret) {
+		pr_err("Unexpected EOF while reading perf control ack\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	buf[ret] = '\0';
+	for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) {
+		if (buf[i] == '\n' || buf[i] == '\0') {
+			buf[i] = '\0';
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (strcmp(buf, "ack")) {
+		pr_err("Unexpected perf control ack: %s\n", buf);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int perf_control_send(struct workload_control *ctl, const char *cmd)
+{
+	if (ctl->ctl_fd < 0)
+		return 0;
+
+	if (perf_control_write_cmd(ctl->ctl_fd, cmd))
+		return -1;
+
+	if (ctl->ack_fd >= 0 && perf_control_read_ack(ctl->ack_fd))
+		return -1;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int run_workload(const char *work, int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	struct test_workload *twl;
 
 	workloads__for_each(twl) {
-		if (!strcmp(twl->name, work))
-			return twl->func(argc, argv);
+		struct workload_control ctl = {
+			.ctl_fd = -1,
+			.ack_fd = -1,
+		};
+		int control_ret, ret;
+
+		if (strcmp(twl->name, work))
+			continue;
+
+		ret = perf_control_open(&ctl);
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
+
+		if (perf_control_send(&ctl, "enable\n")) {
+			perf_control_close(&ctl);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		ret = twl->func(argc, argv);
+
+		control_ret = perf_control_send(&ctl, "disable\n");
+		perf_control_close(&ctl);
+		if (control_ret)
+			return -1;
+
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	pr_info("No workload found: %s\n", work);
@@ -1486,6 +1664,8 @@ int cmd_test(int argc, const char **argv)
 	OPT_UINTEGER('r', "runs-per-test", &runs_per_test,
 		     "Run each test the given number of times, default 1"),
 	OPT_STRING('w', "workload", &workload, "work", "workload to run for testing, use '--list-workloads' to list the available ones."),
+	OPT_STRING(0, "record-ctl", &workload_control, "fifo:ctl-fifo[,ack-fifo]",
+		   "Write enable to the fifo just before running the workload and disable after, with optional ack from ack-fifo"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "list-workloads", &list_workloads, "List the available builtin workloads to use with -w/--workload"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "dso", &dso_to_test, "dso", "dso to test"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "objdump", &test_objdump_path, "path",