diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-stat.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-stat.txt
index d96ccd4844df..aecf2a87e7d6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-stat.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-stat.txt
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ report::
 
 -a::
 --all-cpus::
-        system-wide collection from all CPUs
+        system-wide collection from all CPUs (default if no target is specified)
 
 -c::
 --scale::
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index ca27a8a705ac..9989b03c21f2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -2445,8 +2445,9 @@ int cmd_stat(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 	} else if (big_num_opt == 0) /* User passed --no-big-num */
 		big_num = false;
 
+	/* Make system wide (-a) the default target. */
 	if (!argc && target__none(&target))
-		usage_with_options(stat_usage, stat_options);
+		target.system_wide = true;
 
 	if (run_count < 0) {
 		pr_err("Run count must be a positive number\n");