diff --git a/tools/perf/util/machine.c b/tools/perf/util/machine.c
index 22dbb6612b4123773ba29cc823788f74a4cb5753..df41aa1a4cf905d54d403f7bd71487974b996559 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/machine.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/machine.c
@@ -408,23 +408,16 @@ static void machine__update_thread_pid(struct machine *machine,
 }
 
 /*
- * Caller must eventually drop thread->refcnt returned with a successful
- * lookup/new thread inserted.
+ * Front-end cache - TID lookups come in blocks,
+ * so most of the time we dont have to look up
+ * the full rbtree:
  */
-static struct thread *____machine__findnew_thread(struct machine *machine,
-						  struct threads *threads,
-						  pid_t pid, pid_t tid,
-						  bool create)
+static struct thread*
+threads__get_last_match(struct threads *threads, struct machine *machine,
+			int pid, int tid)
 {
-	struct rb_node **p = &threads->entries.rb_node;
-	struct rb_node *parent = NULL;
 	struct thread *th;
 
-	/*
-	 * Front-end cache - TID lookups come in blocks,
-	 * so most of the time we dont have to look up
-	 * the full rbtree:
-	 */
 	th = threads->last_match;
 	if (th != NULL) {
 		if (th->tid == tid) {
@@ -435,6 +428,26 @@ static struct thread *____machine__findnew_thread(struct machine *machine,
 		threads->last_match = NULL;
 	}
 
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Caller must eventually drop thread->refcnt returned with a successful
+ * lookup/new thread inserted.
+ */
+static struct thread *____machine__findnew_thread(struct machine *machine,
+						  struct threads *threads,
+						  pid_t pid, pid_t tid,
+						  bool create)
+{
+	struct rb_node **p = &threads->entries.rb_node;
+	struct rb_node *parent = NULL;
+	struct thread *th;
+
+	th = threads__get_last_match(threads, machine, pid, tid);
+	if (th)
+		return th;
+
 	while (*p != NULL) {
 		parent = *p;
 		th = rb_entry(parent, struct thread, rb_node);