diff --git a/gnu/packages/linux.scm b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
index 972c5891b198cf617fb9ebefc9f59d4ed770b584..3224b4b100f85682df6df013a64a4e5ee12abe2c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/linux.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
@@ -1719,6 +1719,7 @@ (define-public perf
     (inputs
      `(;; ("slang" ,slang)
        ;; ("newt" ,newt)
+       ("python" ,python-2)                    ;'perf' links against libpython
        ("elfutils" ,elfutils)
 
        ;; FIXME: Documentation.