diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index ffa493a24333..41982c373faf 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -734,6 +734,9 @@ parse_event_modifier(const char **strp, struct perf_event_attr *attr)
 	if (!*str)
 		return 0;
 
+	if (*str == ',')
+		return 0;
+
 	if (*str++ != ':')
 		return -1;