diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-annotate.c b/tools/perf/builtin-annotate.c
index 806e0a2..67522cf 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-annotate.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-annotate.c
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@
 	}
 
 	if (total_nr_samples == 0) {
-		ui__warning("The %s file has no samples!\n", session->filename);
+		ui__error("The %s file has no samples!\n", session->filename);
 		goto out_delete;
 	}
 out_delete: