diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
index a850342baf86..54d94054eef0 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
@@ -6632,6 +6632,12 @@ static struct tep_event *search_event(struct tep_handle *pevent, int id,
  *
  * If @id is >= 0, then it is used to find the event.
  * else @sys_name and @event_name are used.
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ *  TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS_OVERWRITE if an existing handler is overwritten
+ *  TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS if a new handler is registered successfully
+ *  negative TEP_ERRNO_... in case of an error
+ *
  */
 int tep_register_event_handler(struct tep_handle *pevent, int id,
 			       const char *sys_name, const char *event_name,
@@ -6649,7 +6655,7 @@ int tep_register_event_handler(struct tep_handle *pevent, int id,
 
 	event->handler = func;
 	event->context = context;
-	return 0;
+	return TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS_OVERWRITE;
 
  not_found:
 	/* Save for later use. */
@@ -6679,7 +6685,7 @@ int tep_register_event_handler(struct tep_handle *pevent, int id,
 	pevent->handlers = handle;
 	handle->context = context;
 
-	return -1;
+	return TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 static int handle_matches(struct event_handler *handler, int id,
diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.h b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.h
index 77a4a1dd4b4d..ac377ae99008 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.h
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.h
@@ -485,6 +485,11 @@ int tep_print_func_field(struct trace_seq *s, const char *fmt,
 			 struct tep_event *event, const char *name,
 			 struct tep_record *record, int err);
 
+enum tep_reg_handler {
+	TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS = 0,
+	TEP_REGISTER_SUCCESS_OVERWRITE,
+};
+
 int tep_register_event_handler(struct tep_handle *pevent, int id,
 			       const char *sys_name, const char *event_name,
 			       tep_event_handler_func func, void *context);