diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/attr.c b/tools/perf/tests/attr.c
index 28d1605b0338..b60a6fd66517 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/attr.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/attr.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int run_dir(const char *d, const char *perf)
 	snprintf(cmd, 3*PATH_MAX, PYTHON " %s/attr.py -d %s/attr/ -p %s %.*s",
 		 d, d, perf, vcnt, v);
 
-	return system(cmd);
+	return system(cmd) ? TEST_FAIL : TEST_OK;
 }
 
 int test__attr(int subtest __maybe_unused)