diff --git a/tools/perf/arch/x86/util/header.c b/tools/perf/arch/x86/util/header.c
index 33027c5e6f92..c6b5204e0280 100644
--- a/tools/perf/arch/x86/util/header.c
+++ b/tools/perf/arch/x86/util/header.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ get_cpuid_str(void)
 {
 	char *buf = malloc(128);
 
-	if (__get_cpuid(buf, 128, "%s-%u-%X$") < 0) {
+	if (buf && __get_cpuid(buf, 128, "%s-%u-%X$") < 0) {
 		free(buf);
 		return NULL;
 	}