diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index fea55e3fc931..377971dc89a3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1004,6 +1004,10 @@ static int perf_top_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 	if (!strcmp(var, "top.call-graph"))
 		return record_parse_callchain(value, &top->record_opts);
+	if (!strcmp(var, "top.children")) {
+		symbol_conf.cumulate_callchain = perf_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
 
 	return perf_default_config(var, value, cb);
 }