diff --git a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ProducerPerformance.java b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ProducerPerformance.java
index 12a0fccea8..3c5f63df18 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ProducerPerformance.java
+++ b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ProducerPerformance.java
@@ -112,12 +112,10 @@ public class ProducerPerformance {
 
             /* setup perf test */
             byte[] payload = null;
-            Random random = new Random(0);
             if (recordSize != null) {
                 payload = new byte[recordSize];
-                for (int i = 0; i < payload.length; ++i)
-                    payload[i] = (byte) (random.nextInt(26) + 65);
             }
+            Random random = new Random(0);
             ProducerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record;
             Stats stats = new Stats(numRecords, 5000);
             long startMs = System.currentTimeMillis();
@@ -127,15 +125,20 @@ public class ProducerPerformance {
             int currentTransactionSize = 0;
             long transactionStartTime = 0;
             for (long i = 0; i < numRecords; i++) {
+                if (payloadFilePath != null) {
+                    payload = payloadByteList.get(random.nextInt(payloadByteList.size()));
+                } else if (recordSize != null) {
+                    for (int j = 0; j < payload.length; ++j)
+                        payload[j] = (byte) (random.nextInt(26) + 65);
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("no payload File Path or record Size provided");
+                }
+
                 if (transactionsEnabled && currentTransactionSize == 0) {
                     producer.beginTransaction();
                     transactionStartTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
                 }
 
-
-                if (payloadFilePath != null) {
-                    payload = payloadByteList.get(random.nextInt(payloadByteList.size()));
-                }
                 record = new ProducerRecord<>(topicName, payload);
 
                 long sendStartMs = System.currentTimeMillis();