diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-inject.c b/tools/perf/builtin-inject.c
index 0d524ef3606d..6b6bb86d62d3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-inject.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-inject.c
@@ -836,8 +836,10 @@ int cmd_inject(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	data.path = inject.input_name;
 	inject.session = perf_session__new(&data, inject.output.is_pipe, &inject.tool);
-	if (IS_ERR(inject.session))
-		return PTR_ERR(inject.session);
+	if (IS_ERR(inject.session)) {
+		ret = PTR_ERR(inject.session);
+		goto out_close_output;
+	}
 
 	if (zstd_init(&(inject.session->zstd_data), 0) < 0)
 		pr_warning("Decompression initialization failed.\n");
@@ -874,5 +876,7 @@ int cmd_inject(int argc, const char **argv)
 out_delete:
 	zstd_fini(&(inject.session->zstd_data));
 	perf_session__delete(inject.session);
+out_close_output:
+	perf_data__close(&inject.output);
 	return ret;
 }