diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index e71605c99080..cafd18466dfa 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -3611,8 +3611,8 @@ static int trace__expand_filter(struct trace *trace __maybe_unused, struct evsel
 
 			fmt = perf_evsel__syscall_arg_fmt(evsel, arg);
 			if (fmt == NULL) {
-				pr_debug("\"%s\" not found in \"%s\", can't set filter \"%s\"\n",
-					 arg, evsel->name, evsel->filter);
+				pr_err("\"%s\" not found in \"%s\", can't set filter \"%s\"\n",
+				       arg, evsel->name, evsel->filter);
 				return -1;
 			}