diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c b/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
index a735051..21c164b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
@@ -1691,17 +1691,15 @@
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
-
-	const char * const kvm_usage[] = {
-		"perf kvm [<options>] {top|record|report|diff|buildid-list|stat}",
-		NULL
-	};
+	const char *const kvm_subcommands[] = { "top", "record", "report", "diff",
+						"buildid-list", "stat", NULL };
+	const char *kvm_usage[] = { NULL, NULL };
 
 	perf_host  = 0;
 	perf_guest = 1;
 
-	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, kvm_options, kvm_usage,
-			PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
+	argc = parse_options_subcommand(argc, argv, kvm_options, kvm_subcommands, kvm_usage,
+					PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	if (!argc)
 		usage_with_options(kvm_usage, kvm_options);
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/perf-completion.sh b/tools/perf/perf-completion.sh
index 496e2ab..ae3a576 100644
--- a/tools/perf/perf-completion.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/perf-completion.sh
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
 		__perfcomp_colon "$evts" "$cur"
 	# List subcommands for 'perf kvm'
 	elif [[ $prev == "kvm" ]]; then
-		subcmds="top record report diff buildid-list stat"
+		subcmds=$($cmd $prev --list-cmds)
 		__perfcomp_colon "$subcmds" "$cur"
 	# List long option names
 	elif [[ $cur == --* ]];  then
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
index d22e3f80..bf48092 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
@@ -407,7 +407,9 @@
 		if (internal_help && !strcmp(arg + 2, "help"))
 			return usage_with_options_internal(usagestr, options, 0);
 		if (!strcmp(arg + 2, "list-opts"))
-			return PARSE_OPT_LIST;
+			return PARSE_OPT_LIST_OPTS;
+		if (!strcmp(arg + 2, "list-cmds"))
+			return PARSE_OPT_LIST_SUBCMDS;
 		switch (parse_long_opt(ctx, arg + 2, options)) {
 		case -1:
 			return parse_options_usage(usagestr, options, arg + 2, 0);
@@ -433,25 +435,45 @@
 	return ctx->cpidx + ctx->argc;
 }
 
-int parse_options(int argc, const char **argv, const struct option *options,
-		  const char * const usagestr[], int flags)
+int parse_options_subcommand(int argc, const char **argv, const struct option *options,
+			const char *const subcommands[], const char *usagestr[], int flags)
 {
 	struct parse_opt_ctx_t ctx;
 
 	perf_header__set_cmdline(argc, argv);
 
+	/* build usage string if it's not provided */
+	if (subcommands && !usagestr[0]) {
+		struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+		strbuf_addf(&buf, "perf %s [<options>] {", argv[0]);
+		for (int i = 0; subcommands[i]; i++) {
+			if (i)
+				strbuf_addstr(&buf, "|");
+			strbuf_addstr(&buf, subcommands[i]);
+		}
+		strbuf_addstr(&buf, "}");
+
+		usagestr[0] = strdup(buf.buf);
+		strbuf_release(&buf);
+	}
+
 	parse_options_start(&ctx, argc, argv, flags);
 	switch (parse_options_step(&ctx, options, usagestr)) {
 	case PARSE_OPT_HELP:
 		exit(129);
 	case PARSE_OPT_DONE:
 		break;
-	case PARSE_OPT_LIST:
+	case PARSE_OPT_LIST_OPTS:
 		while (options->type != OPTION_END) {
 			printf("--%s ", options->long_name);
 			options++;
 		}
 		exit(130);
+	case PARSE_OPT_LIST_SUBCMDS:
+		for (int i = 0; subcommands[i]; i++)
+			printf("%s ", subcommands[i]);
+		exit(130);
 	default: /* PARSE_OPT_UNKNOWN */
 		if (ctx.argv[0][1] == '-') {
 			error("unknown option `%s'", ctx.argv[0] + 2);
@@ -464,6 +486,13 @@
 	return parse_options_end(&ctx);
 }
 
+int parse_options(int argc, const char **argv, const struct option *options,
+		  const char * const usagestr[], int flags)
+{
+	return parse_options_subcommand(argc, argv, options, NULL,
+					(const char **) usagestr, flags);
+}
+
 #define USAGE_OPTS_WIDTH 24
 #define USAGE_GAP         2
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
index cbf0149..d8dac8a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
@@ -140,6 +140,11 @@
                          const struct option *options,
                          const char * const usagestr[], int flags);
 
+extern int parse_options_subcommand(int argc, const char **argv,
+				const struct option *options,
+				const char *const subcommands[],
+				const char *usagestr[], int flags);
+
 extern NORETURN void usage_with_options(const char * const *usagestr,
                                         const struct option *options);
 
@@ -148,7 +153,8 @@
 enum {
 	PARSE_OPT_HELP = -1,
 	PARSE_OPT_DONE,
-	PARSE_OPT_LIST,
+	PARSE_OPT_LIST_OPTS,
+	PARSE_OPT_LIST_SUBCMDS,
 	PARSE_OPT_UNKNOWN,
 };