diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index 2eb272d8753cb9d8f3604e3cb0d097cb3d24b4a7..df9e06af89bf64438e2af901d88a3c53193178f1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ static void perf_event__process_sample(struct perf_tool *tool,
 				return;
 		}
 
-		if (top->sort_has_symbols)
+		if (sort__has_sym)
 			perf_top__record_precise_ip(top, he, evsel->idx, ip);
 	}
 
@@ -912,9 +912,9 @@ static int perf_top__start_counters(struct perf_top *top)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static int perf_top__setup_sample_type(struct perf_top *top)
+static int perf_top__setup_sample_type(struct perf_top *top __maybe_unused)
 {
-	if (!top->sort_has_symbols) {
+	if (!sort__has_sym) {
 		if (symbol_conf.use_callchain) {
 			ui__error("Selected -g but \"sym\" not present in --sort/-s.");
 			return -EINVAL;
@@ -1202,12 +1202,6 @@ int cmd_top(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 
 	sort__setup_elide(stdout);
 
-	/*
-	 * Avoid annotation data structures overhead when symbols aren't on the
-	 * sort list.
-	 */
-	top.sort_has_symbols = sort_sym.list.next != NULL;
-
 	get_term_dimensions(&top.winsize);
 	if (top.print_entries == 0) {
 		struct sigaction act = {
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/top.h b/tools/perf/util/top.h
index 7ebf357dc9e12870a8878fd0b76c6ef295bfa892..f0a862539ba950068046474cbac6540fb112a5f3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/top.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/top.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ struct perf_top {
 	int		   print_entries, count_filter, delay_secs;
 	bool		   hide_kernel_symbols, hide_user_symbols, zero;
 	bool		   use_tui, use_stdio;
-	bool		   sort_has_symbols;
 	bool		   kptr_restrict_warned;
 	bool		   vmlinux_warned;
 	bool		   dump_symtab;