diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
index bada8933fdd4..ad60c6ea1997 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ To limit the list use:
 . If none of the above is matched, it will apply the supplied glob to all
   events, printing the ones that match.
 
+. As a last resort, it will do a substring search in all event names.
+
 One or more types can be used at the same time, listing the events for the
 types specified.
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-list.c b/tools/perf/builtin-list.c
index 602414040344..bf679e2c978b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-list.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-list.c
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ int cmd_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
+		char *sep, *s;
+
 		if (strcmp(argv[i], "tracepoint") == 0)
 			print_tracepoint_events(NULL, NULL, raw_dump);
 		else if (strcmp(argv[i], "hw") == 0 ||
@@ -60,8 +62,7 @@ int cmd_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 			print_hwcache_events(NULL, raw_dump);
 		else if (strcmp(argv[i], "pmu") == 0)
 			print_pmu_events(NULL, raw_dump);
-		else {
-			char *sep = strchr(argv[i], ':'), *s;
+		else if ((sep = strchr(argv[i], ':')) != NULL) {
 			int sep_idx;
 
 			if (sep == NULL) {
@@ -76,6 +77,19 @@ int cmd_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 			s[sep_idx] = '\0';
 			print_tracepoint_events(s, s + sep_idx + 1, raw_dump);
 			free(s);
+		} else {
+			if (asprintf(&s, "*%s*", argv[i]) < 0) {
+				printf("Critical: Not enough memory! Trying to continue...\n");
+				continue;
+			}
+			print_symbol_events(s, PERF_TYPE_HARDWARE,
+					    event_symbols_hw, PERF_COUNT_HW_MAX, raw_dump);
+			print_symbol_events(s, PERF_TYPE_SOFTWARE,
+					    event_symbols_sw, PERF_COUNT_SW_MAX, raw_dump);
+			print_hwcache_events(s, raw_dump);
+			print_pmu_events(s, raw_dump);
+			print_tracepoint_events(NULL, s, raw_dump);
+			free(s);
 		}
 	}
 	return 0;