diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile b/tools/perf/Makefile
index 3dbb5c5bb8c6..5d1a8b0dff8f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ all::
 # Define NO_EXTERNAL_GREP if you don't want "perf grep" to ever call
 # your external grep (e.g., if your system lacks grep, if its grep is
 # broken, or spawning external process is slower than built-in grep perf has).
+#
+# Define LDFLAGS=-static to build a static binary.
 
 PERF-VERSION-FILE: .FORCE-PERF-VERSION-FILE
 	@$(SHELL_PATH) util/PERF-VERSION-GEN
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ ifndef PERF_DEBUG
 endif
 
 CFLAGS = $(MBITS) -ggdb3 -Wall -Wextra -std=gnu99 -Werror $(CFLAGS_OPTIMIZE) -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 $(EXTRA_WARNINGS)
-LDFLAGS = -lpthread -lrt -lelf -lm
+EXTLIBS = -lpthread -lrt -lelf -lm
 ALL_CFLAGS = $(CFLAGS)
 ALL_LDFLAGS = $(LDFLAGS)
 STRIP ?= strip
@@ -470,19 +472,19 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Darwin)
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libelf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Elf * elf = elf_begin(0, ELF_C_READ, 0); return (long)elf; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
-ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <gnu/libc-version.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { const char * version = gnu_get_libc_version(); return (long)version; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
+ifeq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libelf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Elf * elf = elf_begin(0, ELF_C_READ, 0); return (long)elf; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
+ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <gnu/libc-version.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { const char * version = gnu_get_libc_version(); return (long)version; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
 	msg := $(error No gnu/libc-version.h found, please install glibc-dev[el]);
 endif
 
-	ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libelf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Elf * elf = elf_begin(0, ELF_C_READ_MMAP, 0); return (long)elf; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
+	ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libelf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Elf * elf = elf_begin(0, ELF_C_READ_MMAP, 0); return (long)elf; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
 		BASIC_CFLAGS += -DLIBELF_NO_MMAP
 	endif
 else
 	msg := $(error No libelf.h/libelf found, please install libelf-dev/elfutils-libelf-devel and glibc-dev[el]);
 endif
 
-ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libdwarf/dwarf.h>'; echo '\#include <libdwarf/libdwarf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Dwarf_Debug dbg; Dwarf_Error err; Dwarf_Ranges *rng; dwarf_init(0, DW_DLC_READ, 0, 0, &dbg, &err); dwarf_get_ranges(dbg, 0, &rng, 0, 0, &err); return (long)dbg; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -ldwarf -lelf -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
+ifneq ($(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <libdwarf/dwarf.h>'; echo '\#include <libdwarf/libdwarf.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { Dwarf_Debug dbg; Dwarf_Error err; Dwarf_Ranges *rng; dwarf_init(0, DW_DLC_READ, 0, 0, &dbg, &err); dwarf_get_ranges(dbg, 0, &rng, 0, 0, &err); return (long)dbg; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -ldwarf -lelf -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y"), y)
 	msg := $(warning No libdwarf.h found or old libdwarf.h found, disables dwarf support. Please install libdwarf-dev/libdwarf-devel >= 20081231);
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DNO_LIBDWARF
 else
@@ -494,20 +496,20 @@ endif
 ifdef NO_DEMANGLE
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DNO_DEMANGLE
 else
-	has_bfd := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -lbfd > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
+	has_bfd := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) -lbfd > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
 
 	ifeq ($(has_bfd),y)
 		EXTLIBS += -lbfd
 	else
-		has_bfd_iberty := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -lbfd -liberty > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
+		has_bfd_iberty := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) -lbfd -liberty > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
 		ifeq ($(has_bfd_iberty),y)
 			EXTLIBS += -lbfd -liberty
 		else
-			has_bfd_iberty_z := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -lbfd -liberty -lz > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
+			has_bfd_iberty_z := $(shell sh -c "(echo '\#include <bfd.h>'; echo 'int main(void) { bfd_demangle(0, 0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) -lbfd -liberty -lz > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
 			ifeq ($(has_bfd_iberty_z),y)
 				EXTLIBS += -lbfd -liberty -lz
 			else
-				has_cplus_demangle := $(shell sh -c "(echo 'extern char *cplus_demangle(const char *, int);'; echo 'int main(void) { cplus_demangle(0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -liberty > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
+				has_cplus_demangle := $(shell sh -c "(echo 'extern char *cplus_demangle(const char *, int);'; echo 'int main(void) { cplus_demangle(0, 0); return 0; }') | $(CC) -x c - $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o /dev/null $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(EXTLIBS) -liberty > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo y")
 				ifeq ($(has_cplus_demangle),y)
 					EXTLIBS += -liberty
 					BASIC_CFLAGS += -DHAVE_CPLUS_DEMANGLE