diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
index 6400615b5e98..500f9d8902e7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
@@ -143,6 +143,10 @@ static int report__config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 	if (!strcmp(var, "report.sort_order")) {
 		default_sort_order = strdup(value);
+		if (!default_sort_order) {
+			pr_err("Not enough memory for report.sort_order\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -151,6 +155,7 @@ static int report__config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	pr_debug("%s variable unknown, ignoring...", var);
 	return 0;
 }