diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index e846695..65c49b2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1073,6 +1073,8 @@
 		    "list of cpus to monitor"),
 	OPT_STRING('k', "vmlinux", &symbol_conf.vmlinux_name,
 		   "file", "vmlinux pathname"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "ignore-vmlinux", &symbol_conf.ignore_vmlinux,
+		    "don't load vmlinux even if found"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('K', "hide_kernel_symbols", &top.hide_kernel_symbols,
 		    "hide kernel symbols"),
 	OPT_CALLBACK('m', "mmap-pages", &opts->mmap_pages, "pages",
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
index cd1dcc4..48c3879 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
@@ -1215,7 +1215,7 @@
 		goto do_kallsyms;
 	}
 
-	if (symbol_conf.vmlinux_name != NULL) {
+	if (!symbol_conf.ignore_vmlinux && symbol_conf.vmlinux_name != NULL) {
 		err = dso__load_vmlinux(dso, map,
 					symbol_conf.vmlinux_name, filter);
 		if (err > 0) {
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@
 		return err;
 	}
 
-	if (vmlinux_path != NULL) {
+	if (!symbol_conf.ignore_vmlinux && vmlinux_path != NULL) {
 		err = dso__load_vmlinux_path(dso, map, filter);
 		if (err > 0)
 			return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
index 2a97bb1..9b8b213 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
 	unsigned short	priv_size;
 	unsigned short	nr_events;
 	bool		try_vmlinux_path,
+			ignore_vmlinux,
 			show_kernel_path,
 			use_modules,
 			sort_by_name,