diff --git a/tools/perf/.gitignore b/tools/perf/.gitignore
index bc165f4e4830..05806ecfc33c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/.gitignore
+++ b/tools/perf/.gitignore
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ libapi/
 libbpf/
 libperf/
 libsubcmd/
+libsymbol/
 libtraceevent/
 libtraceevent_plugins/
 fixdep
diff --git a/tools/perf/MANIFEST b/tools/perf/MANIFEST
index f5d72f936a6b..c8e8e05b4ff1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/MANIFEST
+++ b/tools/perf/MANIFEST
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ tools/lib/ctype.c
 tools/lib/hweight.c
 tools/lib/rbtree.c
 tools/lib/string.c
-tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c
-tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.h
+tools/lib/symbol
 tools/lib/find_bit.c
 tools/lib/bitmap.c
 tools/lib/list_sort.c
diff --git a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
index 6e5e3f7730b5..6c1a2a3ccc38 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
+++ b/tools/perf/Makefile.perf
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ LIBTRACEEVENT_DIR = $(srctree)/tools/lib/traceevent/
 LIBTRACEEVENT_PLUGINS_DIR = $(LIBTRACEEVENT_DIR)/plugins
 LIBBPF_DIR      = $(srctree)/tools/lib/bpf/
 LIBSUBCMD_DIR   = $(srctree)/tools/lib/subcmd/
+LIBSYMBOL_DIR   = $(srctree)/tools/lib/symbol/
 LIBPERF_DIR     = $(srctree)/tools/lib/perf/
 DOC_DIR         = $(srctree)/tools/perf/Documentation/
 
@@ -340,6 +341,15 @@ LIBSUBCMD_DESTDIR = $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT)
 LIBSUBCMD_INCLUDE = $(LIBSUBCMD_DESTDIR)/include
 LIBSUBCMD = $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT)/libsubcmd.a
 
+ifneq ($(OUTPUT),)
+  LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT = $(abspath $(OUTPUT))/libsymbol
+else
+  LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT = $(CURDIR)/libsymbol
+endif
+LIBSYMBOL_DESTDIR = $(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT)
+LIBSYMBOL_INCLUDE = $(LIBSYMBOL_DESTDIR)/include
+LIBSYMBOL = $(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT)/libsymbol.a
+
 ifneq ($(OUTPUT),)
   LIBPERF_OUTPUT = $(abspath $(OUTPUT))/libperf
 else
@@ -398,7 +408,7 @@ endif
 
 export PERL_PATH
 
-PERFLIBS = $(LIBAPI) $(LIBSUBCMD) $(LIBPERF)
+PERFLIBS = $(LIBAPI) $(LIBPERF) $(LIBSUBCMD) $(LIBSYMBOL)
 ifndef NO_LIBBPF
   ifndef LIBBPF_DYNAMIC
     PERFLIBS += $(LIBBPF)
@@ -887,6 +897,15 @@ $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean:
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, libsubcmd)
 	$(Q)$(RM) -r -- $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT)
 
+$(LIBSYMBOL): FORCE | $(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT)
+	$(Q)$(MAKE) -C $(LIBSYMBOL_DIR) O=$(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT) \
+		DESTDIR=$(LIBSYMBOL_DESTDIR) prefix= \
+		$@ install_headers
+
+$(LIBSYMBOL)-clean:
+	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, libsymbol)
+	$(Q)$(RM) -r -- $(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT)
+
 help:
 	@echo 'Perf make targets:'
 	@echo '  doc		- make *all* documentation (see below)'
@@ -1071,7 +1090,7 @@ SKELETONS += $(SKEL_OUT)/bperf_cgroup.skel.h $(SKEL_OUT)/func_latency.skel.h
 SKELETONS += $(SKEL_OUT)/off_cpu.skel.h $(SKEL_OUT)/lock_contention.skel.h
 SKELETONS += $(SKEL_OUT)/kwork_trace.skel.h
 
-$(SKEL_TMP_OUT) $(LIBAPI_OUTPUT) $(LIBBPF_OUTPUT) $(LIBPERF_OUTPUT) $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT):
+$(SKEL_TMP_OUT) $(LIBAPI_OUTPUT) $(LIBBPF_OUTPUT) $(LIBPERF_OUTPUT) $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT) $(LIBSYMBOL_OUTPUT):
 	$(Q)$(MKDIR) -p $@
 
 ifndef LIBTRACEEVENT_DYNAMIC
@@ -1121,7 +1140,7 @@ endif # BUILD_BPF_SKEL
 bpf-skel-clean:
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, bpf-skel) $(RM) -r $(SKEL_TMP_OUT) $(SKELETONS)
 
-clean:: $(LIBTRACEEVENT)-clean $(LIBAPI)-clean $(LIBBPF)-clean $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean $(LIBPERF)-clean fixdep-clean python-clean bpf-skel-clean tests-coresight-targets-clean libtraceevent_plugins-clean
+clean:: $(LIBTRACEEVENT)-clean $(LIBAPI)-clean $(LIBBPF)-clean $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean $(LIBSYMBOL)-clean $(LIBPERF)-clean fixdep-clean python-clean bpf-skel-clean tests-coresight-targets-clean libtraceevent_plugins-clean
 	$(call QUIET_CLEAN, core-objs)  $(RM) $(LIBPERF_A) $(OUTPUT)perf-archive $(OUTPUT)perf-iostat $(LANG_BINDINGS)
 	$(Q)find $(or $(OUTPUT),.) -name '*.o' -delete -o -name '\.*.cmd' -delete -o -name '\.*.d' -delete
 	$(Q)$(RM) $(OUTPUT).config-detected
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/Build b/tools/perf/util/Build
index 47a7db3ad0a1..ab37f588ee8b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/Build
+++ b/tools/perf/util/Build
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ perf-y += perf_event_attr_fprintf.o
 perf-y += evswitch.o
 perf-y += find_bit.o
 perf-y += get_current_dir_name.o
-perf-y += kallsyms.o
 perf-y += levenshtein.o
 perf-y += llvm-utils.o
 perf-y += mmap.o
@@ -294,10 +293,6 @@ CFLAGS_expr.o          += -Wno-redundant-decls
 CFLAGS_header.o        += -include $(OUTPUT)PERF-VERSION-FILE
 CFLAGS_arm-spe.o       += -I$(srctree)/tools/arch/arm64/include/
 
-$(OUTPUT)util/kallsyms.o: ../lib/symbol/kallsyms.c FORCE
-	$(call rule_mkdir)
-	$(call if_changed_dep,cc_o_c)
-
 $(OUTPUT)util/argv_split.o: ../lib/argv_split.c FORCE
 	$(call rule_mkdir)
 	$(call if_changed_dep,cc_o_c)