diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index efc5158738f4..ec4c063ed9f3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ include config/utilities.mak
 # for reading the x32 mode 32-bit compatibility VDSO in 64-bit mode
 #
 # Define NO_ZLIB if you do not want to support compressed kernel modules
-
+#
+# Define NO_LIBBABELTRACE if you do not want libbabeltrace support
+# for CTF data format.
 
 ifeq ($(srctree),)
 srctree := $(patsubst %/,%,$(dir $(shell pwd)))
diff --git a/tools/perf/config/Makefile b/tools/perf/config/Makefile
index b97a7b903a23..6f129b0a9c64 100644
--- a/tools/perf/config/Makefile
+++ b/tools/perf/config/Makefile
@@ -96,6 +96,17 @@ ifndef NO_LIBELF
   FEATURE_CHECK_LDFLAGS-libdw-dwarf-unwind := $(LIBDW_LDFLAGS) -ldw
 endif
 
+ifndef NO_LIBBABELTRACE
+  # for linking with debug library, run like:
+  # make DEBUG=1 LIBBABELTRACE_DIR=/opt/libbabeltrace/
+  ifdef LIBBABELTRACE_DIR
+    LIBBABELTRACE_CFLAGS  := -I$(LIBBABELTRACE_DIR)/include
+    LIBBABELTRACE_LDFLAGS := -L$(LIBBABELTRACE_DIR)/lib
+  endif
+  FEATURE_CHECK_CFLAGS-libbabeltrace := $(LIBBABELTRACE_CFLAGS)
+  FEATURE_CHECK_LDFLAGS-libbabeltrace := $(LIBBABELTRACE_LDFLAGS) -lbabeltrace-ctf
+endif
+
 # include ARCH specific config
 -include $(src-perf)/arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile
 
@@ -216,6 +227,7 @@ CORE_FEATURE_TESTS =			\
 	stackprotector-all		\
 	timerfd				\
 	libdw-dwarf-unwind		\
+	libbabeltrace			\
 	zlib
 
 LIB_FEATURE_TESTS =			\
@@ -231,6 +243,7 @@ LIB_FEATURE_TESTS =			\
 	libslang			\
 	libunwind			\
 	libdw-dwarf-unwind		\
+	libbabeltrace			\
 	zlib
 
 VF_FEATURE_TESTS =			\
@@ -692,6 +705,17 @@ else
   NO_PERF_READ_VDSOX32 := 1
 endif
 
+ifndef NO_LIBBABELTRACE
+  ifeq ($(feature-libbabeltrace), 0)
+    msg := $(warning No libbabeltrace found, disables 'perf data' CTF format support, please install libbabeltrace-devel/libbabeltrace-ctf-dev);
+    NO_LIBBABELTRACE := 1
+  else
+    CFLAGS += -DHAVE_LIBBABELTRACE_SUPPORT $(LIBBABELTRACE_CFLAGS)
+    LDFLAGS += $(LIBBABELTRACE_LDFLAGS)
+    EXTLIBS += -lbabeltrace-ctf
+  endif
+endif
+
 # Among the variables below, these:
 #   perfexecdir
 #   template_dir
diff --git a/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/Makefile b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/Makefile
index b32ff3372514..70c9aebe9da3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/Makefile
+++ b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ FILES=					\
 	test-stackprotector-all.bin	\
 	test-timerfd.bin		\
 	test-libdw-dwarf-unwind.bin	\
+	test-libbabeltrace.bin		\
 	test-compile-32.bin		\
 	test-compile-x32.bin		\
 	test-zlib.bin
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ BUILD = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(OUTPUT)$@ $(patsubst %.bin,%.c,$@) $(LDFLAGS)
 ###############################
 
 test-all.bin:
-	$(BUILD) -Werror -fstack-protector-all -O2 -Werror -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -ldw -lelf -lnuma -lelf -laudit -I/usr/include/slang -lslang $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --libs --cflags gtk+-2.0 2>/dev/null) $(FLAGS_PERL_EMBED) $(FLAGS_PYTHON_EMBED) -DPACKAGE='"perf"' -lbfd -ldl -lz
+	$(BUILD) -Werror -fstack-protector-all -O2 -Werror -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -ldw -lelf -lnuma -lelf -laudit -I/usr/include/slang -lslang $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --libs --cflags gtk+-2.0 2>/dev/null) $(FLAGS_PERL_EMBED) $(FLAGS_PYTHON_EMBED) -DPACKAGE='"perf"' -lbfd -ldl -lz -lbabeltrace
 
 test-hello.bin:
 	$(BUILD)
@@ -133,7 +134,10 @@ test-timerfd.bin:
 	$(BUILD)
 
 test-libdw-dwarf-unwind.bin:
-	$(BUILD)
+	$(BUILD) # -ldw provided by $(FEATURE_CHECK_LDFLAGS-libdw-dwarf-unwind)
+
+test-libbabeltrace.bin:
+	$(BUILD) # -lbabeltrace provided by $(FEATURE_CHECK_LDFLAGS-libbabeltrace)
 
 test-sync-compare-and-swap.bin:
 	$(BUILD) -Werror
diff --git a/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-all.c b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-all.c
index 6d4d09323922..1ffc3da5ca10 100644
--- a/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-all.c
+++ b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-all.c
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@
 # include "test-pthread_attr_setaffinity_np.c"
 #undef main
 
+#define main main_test_libbabeltrace
+# include "test-libbabeltrace.c"
+#undef main
+
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	main_test_libpython();
@@ -126,6 +130,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	main_test_sync_compare_and_swap(argc, argv);
 	main_test_zlib();
 	main_test_pthread_attr_setaffinity_np();
+	main_test_libbabeltrace();
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-libbabeltrace.c b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-libbabeltrace.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3b7dd68a4d52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/perf/config/feature-checks/test-libbabeltrace.c
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+
+#include <babeltrace/ctf-writer/writer.h>
+
+int main(void)
+{
+	bt_ctf_stream_class_get_packet_context_type((void *) 0);
+	return 0;
+}