diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index 86289dfcb452..8c0bc0fe5179 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -1831,6 +1831,7 @@ int cmd_stat(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 	if (evsel_list == NULL)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	parse_events__shrink_config_terms();
 	argc = parse_options_subcommand(argc, argv, stat_options, stat_subcommands,
 					(const char **) stat_usage,
 					PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index fd085d5f5c79..eb5df43ec68f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -765,6 +765,41 @@ static const char *config_term_names[__PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_NR] = {
 	[PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_INHERIT]		= "inherit",
 };
 
+static bool config_term_shrinked;
+
+static bool
+config_term_avail(int term_type, struct parse_events_error *err)
+{
+	if (term_type < 0 || term_type >= __PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_NR) {
+		err->str = strdup("Invalid term_type");
+		return false;
+	}
+	if (!config_term_shrinked)
+		return true;
+
+	switch (term_type) {
+	case PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_CONFIG:
+	case PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_CONFIG1:
+	case PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_CONFIG2:
+	case PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_NAME:
+		return true;
+	default:
+		if (!err)
+			return false;
+
+		/* term_type is validated so indexing is safe */
+		if (asprintf(&err->str, "'%s' is not usable in 'perf stat'",
+			     config_term_names[term_type]) < 0)
+			err->str = NULL;
+		return false;
+	}
+}
+
+void parse_events__shrink_config_terms(void)
+{
+	config_term_shrinked = true;
+}
+
 typedef int config_term_func_t(struct perf_event_attr *attr,
 			       struct parse_events_term *term,
 			       struct parse_events_error *err);
@@ -834,6 +869,17 @@ do {									   \
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Check term availbility after basic checking so
+	 * PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_USER can be found and filtered.
+	 *
+	 * If check availbility at the entry of this function,
+	 * user will see "'<sysfs term>' is not usable in 'perf stat'"
+	 * if an invalid config term is provided for legacy events
+	 * (for example, instructions/badterm/...), which is confusing.
+	 */
+	if (!config_term_avail(term->type_term, err))
+		return -EINVAL;
 	return 0;
 #undef CHECK_TYPE_VAL
 }
@@ -2125,6 +2171,8 @@ static void config_terms_list(char *buf, size_t buf_sz)
 	for (i = 0; i < __PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_NR; i++) {
 		const char *name = config_term_names[i];
 
+		if (!config_term_avail(i, NULL))
+			continue;
 		if (!name)
 			continue;
 		if (name[0] == '<')
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
index b50d50b96f95..76151f9f00d2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ struct parse_events_terms {
 	struct list_head *terms;
 };
 
+void parse_events__shrink_config_terms(void);
 int parse_events__is_hardcoded_term(struct parse_events_term *term);
 int parse_events_term__num(struct parse_events_term **term,
 			   int type_term, char *config, u64 num,