diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 2639fc579d7..8c2b4ae363d 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -331,6 +331,7 @@ mysql-test-run-asan:
   needs:
     - "fedora-sanitizer: [-DWITH_ASAN=YES]"
   <<: *mysql-test-run-def
+  allow_failure: true
   artifacts:
     when: always  # Also show results when tests fail
     reports:
@@ -489,6 +490,8 @@ mini-benchmark:
   stage: test
   dependencies:
     - fedora
+  needs:
+    - fedora
   script:
     - ls -la rpm; rm -vf rpm/*.el?.*  # Delete artifacts from Centos builds
     # Don't use cracklib, otherwise the Sysbench user password will be rejected
@@ -503,7 +506,7 @@ mini-benchmark:
     - |
       mariadb --skip-column-names -e "SELECT @@version, @@version_comment" | tee /tmp/version
       grep $MARIADB_MAJOR_VERSION /tmp/version || echo "MariaDB didn't install properly"
-    - yum install -y sysbench procps-ng perf || yum install -y https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/luajit/2.0.4/3.el7/x86_64/luajit-2.0.4-3.el7.x86_64.rpm https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/sysbench/1.0.17/2.el7/x86_64/sysbench-1.0.17-2.el7.x86_64.rpm https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/ck/0.5.2/2.el7/x86_64/ck-0.5.2-2.el7.x86_64.rpm
+    - yum install -y sysbench procps-ng perf util-linux || yum install -y https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/luajit/2.0.4/3.el7/x86_64/luajit-2.0.4-3.el7.x86_64.rpm https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/sysbench/1.0.17/2.el7/x86_64/sysbench-1.0.17-2.el7.x86_64.rpm https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/ck/0.5.2/2.el7/x86_64/ck-0.5.2-2.el7.x86_64.rpm
     - /usr/share/mysql/mini-benchmark
     - cp -av */sysbench-run-*.log */metrics.txt ..  # Move files one level down so they can be saved as artifacts
   artifacts:
diff --git a/support-files/mini-benchmark.sh b/support-files/mini-benchmark.sh
index d5dd194bc3f..18de6dbec51 100755
--- a/support-files/mini-benchmark.sh
+++ b/support-files/mini-benchmark.sh
@@ -106,16 +106,29 @@ then
   done | sort -u > mariadbd-dependencies.txt
   # shellcheck disable=SC2046
   debuginfo-install -y mariadb-server $(cat mariadbd-dependencies.txt)
-
-  echo "Using 'perf' to record performance counters in perf.data files"
-  PERF="perf record -g --freq=99 --output=perf.data --timestamp-filename --pid=$MARIADB_SERVER_PID --"
+  
+  if [ ! $(perf record echo "testing perf" > /dev/null 2>&1) ]
+  then
+    echo "perf does not have permission to run on this system. Skipping."
+    PERF=""
+  else
+    echo "Using 'perf' to record performance counters in perf.data files"
+    PERF="perf record -g --freq=99 --output=perf.data --timestamp-filename --pid=$MARIADB_SERVER_PID --"
+  fi
 
 elif [ -e /usr/bin/perf ]
 then
   # If flamegraphs were not requested, log normal perf counters if possible
-  echo "Using 'perf' to log basic performance counters for benchmark"
+
+  if [ ! $(perf stat echo "testing perf" > /dev/null 2>&1) ]
+  then
+    echo "perf does not have permission to run on this system. Skipping."
+    PERF=""
+  else
+    echo "Using 'perf' to log basic performance counters for benchmark"
+    PERF="perf stat -p $MARIADB_SERVER_PID --"
+  fi
 fi
-  PERF="perf stat -p $MARIADB_SERVER_PID --"
 
 # Run sysbench on another CPU if system has more than one available
 if [ "$(nproc)" -gt 1 ]
@@ -133,10 +146,10 @@ uname -a
 echo
 
 echo "Set highest priority for MariaDB Server process ID $MARIADB_SERVER_PID"
-renice --priority -20 --pid "$MARIADB_SERVER_PID"
+renice --priority -20 --pid "$MARIADB_SERVER_PID" || echo "renice failed. Not setting priority."
 
 echo "Set CPU affinity 0 for MariaDB Server process ID $MARIADB_SERVER_PID"
-taskset -cp 0 "$MARIADB_SERVER_PID"
+taskset -cp 0 "$MARIADB_SERVER_PID" || echo "taskset failed. Not setting cpu affinity."
 
 mariadb -e "
   CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS sbtest;