diff --git a/tools/perf/util/sort.c b/tools/perf/util/sort.c
index d42339df20f8..8a3b7d5a4737 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/sort.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/sort.c
@@ -3003,7 +3003,7 @@ int output_field_add(struct perf_hpp_list *list, char *tok)
 		if (strncasecmp(tok, sd->name, strlen(tok)))
 			continue;
 
-		if (sort__mode != SORT_MODE__MEMORY)
+		if (sort__mode != SORT_MODE__BRANCH)
 			return -EINVAL;
 
 		return __sort_dimension__add_output(list, sd);
@@ -3015,7 +3015,7 @@ int output_field_add(struct perf_hpp_list *list, char *tok)
 		if (strncasecmp(tok, sd->name, strlen(tok)))
 			continue;
 
-		if (sort__mode != SORT_MODE__BRANCH)
+		if (sort__mode != SORT_MODE__MEMORY)
 			return -EINVAL;
 
 		return __sort_dimension__add_output(list, sd);