diff --git a/tools/perf/util/header.c b/tools/perf/util/header.c
index fccd69db..e17a8fe 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/header.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/header.c
@@ -2921,16 +2921,22 @@
 				 session->repipe);
 	padding = PERF_ALIGN(size_read, sizeof(u64)) - size_read;
 
-	if (readn(session->fd, buf, padding) < 0)
-		die("reading input file");
+	if (readn(session->fd, buf, padding) < 0) {
+		pr_err("%s: reading input file", __func__);
+		return -1;
+	}
 	if (session->repipe) {
 		int retw = write(STDOUT_FILENO, buf, padding);
-		if (retw <= 0 || retw != padding)
-			die("repiping tracing data padding");
+		if (retw <= 0 || retw != padding) {
+			pr_err("%s: repiping tracing data padding", __func__);
+			return -1;
+		}
 	}
 
-	if (size_read + padding != size)
-		die("tracing data size mismatch");
+	if (size_read + padding != size) {
+		pr_err("%s: tracing data size mismatch", __func__);
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	perf_evlist__prepare_tracepoint_events(session->evlist,
 					       session->pevent);