diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 65615a8bc25e..309f590cf267 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -99,7 +99,22 @@ static int do_write_output(struct perf_record *rec, void *buf, size_t size)
 
 static int write_output(struct perf_record *rec, void *buf, size_t size)
 {
-	return do_write_output(rec, buf, size);
+	off_t len;
+	int rc;
+
+	/* save current length */
+	len = rec->session->header.data_offset + rec->bytes_written;
+
+	rc = do_write_output(rec, buf, size);
+
+	/* on failure reset file to last known good length */
+	if (rc < 0) {
+		pr_debug("truncating file to last known good write: len %ld\n", len);
+	   	if (ftruncate(rec->file.fd, len) != 0)
+			pr_err("Double failure -- write failed and then ftruncate\n");
+	}
+
+	return rc;
 }
 
 static int process_synthesized_event(struct perf_tool *tool,