diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index 68861e81f06cf..43d5f35e90747 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -2042,11 +2042,16 @@ static int add_default_attributes(void)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (transaction_run) {
+		struct parse_events_error errinfo;
+
 		if (pmu_have_event("cpu", "cycles-ct") &&
 		    pmu_have_event("cpu", "el-start"))
-			err = parse_events(evsel_list, transaction_attrs, NULL);
+			err = parse_events(evsel_list, transaction_attrs,
+					   &errinfo);
 		else
-			err = parse_events(evsel_list, transaction_limited_attrs, NULL);
+			err = parse_events(evsel_list,
+					   transaction_limited_attrs,
+					   &errinfo);
 		if (err) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Cannot set up transaction events\n");
 			return -1;