diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/lib/perf_has_symbol.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/lib/perf_has_symbol.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5d59c32ae3e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/lib/perf_has_symbol.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+perf_has_symbol()
+{
+	if perf test -vv "Symbols" 2>&1 | grep "[[:space:]]$1$"; then
+		echo "perf does have symbol '$1'"
+		return 0
+	fi
+	echo "perf does not have symbol '$1'"
+	return 1
+}
+
+skip_test_missing_symbol()
+{
+	if ! perf_has_symbol "$1" ; then
+		echo "perf is missing symbols - skipping test"
+		exit 2
+	fi
+	return 0
+}