diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index 262589991ea4..07b5c7703dd1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -1179,6 +1179,12 @@ int cmd_stat(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __used)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cannot use both --output and --log-fd\n");
 		usage_with_options(stat_usage, options);
 	}
+
+	if (output_fd < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "argument to --log-fd must be a > 0\n");
+		usage_with_options(stat_usage, options);
+	}
+
 	if (!output) {
 		struct timespec tm;
 		mode = append_file ? "a" : "w";
@@ -1190,7 +1196,7 @@ int cmd_stat(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __used)
 		}
 		clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &tm);
 		fprintf(output, "# started on %s\n", ctime(&tm.tv_sec));
-	} else if (output_fd != 2) {
+	} else if (output_fd > 0) {
 		mode = append_file ? "a" : "w";
 		output = fdopen(output_fd, mode);
 		if (!output) {