diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index e0919006fcba..6f48df14e277 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -679,9 +679,6 @@ static int symbol_filter(struct map *map, struct symbol *sym)
 	    strstr(name, "_text_end"))
 		return 1;
 
-	if (symbol__is_idle(sym))
-		sym->idle = 1;
-
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
index 295d3147a803..bd91a4f67080 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ int dso__load_sym(struct dso *dso, struct map *map,
 		if (filter && filter(curr_map, f))
 			symbol__delete(f);
 		else {
-			symbols__insert(&curr_dso->symbols[curr_map->type], f);
+			__symbols__insert(&curr_dso->symbols[curr_map->type], f, dso->kernel);
 			nr++;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
index 98cd50384c32..4c5788f30ced 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ static int dso__load_kernel_sym(struct dso *dso, struct map *map,
 				symbol_filter_t filter);
 static int dso__load_guest_kernel_sym(struct dso *dso, struct map *map,
 			symbol_filter_t filter);
+static bool symbol__is_idle(const char *name);
+
 int vmlinux_path__nr_entries;
 char **vmlinux_path;
 
@@ -277,13 +279,24 @@ void symbols__delete(struct rb_root *symbols)
 	}
 }
 
-void symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym)
+void __symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym, bool kernel)
 {
 	struct rb_node **p = &symbols->rb_node;
 	struct rb_node *parent = NULL;
 	const u64 ip = sym->start;
 	struct symbol *s;
 
+	if (kernel) {
+		const char *name = sym->name;
+		/*
+		 * ppc64 uses function descriptors and appends a '.' to the
+		 * start of every instruction address. Remove it.
+		 */
+		if (name[0] == '.')
+			name++;
+		sym->idle = symbol__is_idle(name);
+	}
+
 	while (*p != NULL) {
 		parent = *p;
 		s = rb_entry(parent, struct symbol, rb_node);
@@ -296,6 +309,11 @@ void symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym)
 	rb_insert_color(&sym->rb_node, symbols);
 }
 
+void symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym)
+{
+	__symbols__insert(symbols, sym, false);
+}
+
 static struct symbol *symbols__find(struct rb_root *symbols, u64 ip)
 {
 	struct rb_node *n;
@@ -424,7 +442,7 @@ void dso__reset_find_symbol_cache(struct dso *dso)
 
 void dso__insert_symbol(struct dso *dso, enum map_type type, struct symbol *sym)
 {
-	symbols__insert(&dso->symbols[type], sym);
+	__symbols__insert(&dso->symbols[type], sym, dso->kernel);
 
 	/* update the symbol cache if necessary */
 	if (dso->last_find_result[type].addr >= sym->start &&
@@ -546,7 +564,7 @@ struct process_kallsyms_args {
  * These are symbols in the kernel image, so make sure that
  * sym is from a kernel DSO.
  */
-bool symbol__is_idle(struct symbol *sym)
+static bool symbol__is_idle(const char *name)
 {
 	const char * const idle_symbols[] = {
 		"cpu_idle",
@@ -563,14 +581,10 @@ bool symbol__is_idle(struct symbol *sym)
 		"pseries_dedicated_idle_sleep",
 		NULL
 	};
-
 	int i;
 
-	if (!sym)
-		return false;
-
 	for (i = 0; idle_symbols[i]; i++) {
-		if (!strcmp(idle_symbols[i], sym->name))
+		if (!strcmp(idle_symbols[i], name))
 			return true;
 	}
 
@@ -599,7 +613,7 @@ static int map__process_kallsym_symbol(void *arg, const char *name,
 	 * We will pass the symbols to the filter later, in
 	 * map__split_kallsyms, when we have split the maps per module
 	 */
-	symbols__insert(root, sym);
+	__symbols__insert(root, sym, !strchr(name, '['));
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
index e54ee7c78ca3..72d29312a694 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
@@ -294,7 +294,6 @@ size_t symbol__fprintf(struct symbol *sym, FILE *fp);
 bool symbol_type__is_a(char symbol_type, enum map_type map_type);
 bool symbol__restricted_filename(const char *filename,
 				 const char *restricted_filename);
-bool symbol__is_idle(struct symbol *sym);
 int symbol__config_symfs(const struct option *opt __maybe_unused,
 			 const char *dir, int unset __maybe_unused);
 
@@ -304,6 +303,7 @@ int dso__load_sym(struct dso *dso, struct map *map, struct symsrc *syms_ss,
 int dso__synthesize_plt_symbols(struct dso *dso, struct symsrc *ss,
 				struct map *map, symbol_filter_t filter);
 
+void __symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym, bool kernel);
 void symbols__insert(struct rb_root *symbols, struct symbol *sym);
 void symbols__fixup_duplicate(struct rb_root *symbols);
 void symbols__fixup_end(struct rb_root *symbols);