diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-plugin.c b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-plugin.c
index aa6f43290cd3d7c1a527928ca709e2b878c093ac..a39eeb6ef1f27b99eb2394e652cdb9b2e313b72c 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-plugin.c
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-plugin.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ void tep_plugin_remove_options(struct tep_plugin_option *options)
 	}
 }
 
-static void parse_option_name(char **option, char **plugin)
+static int parse_option_name(char **option, char **plugin)
 {
 	char *p;
 
@@ -265,8 +265,9 @@ static void parse_option_name(char **option, char **plugin)
 		*p = '\0';
 		*option = strdup(p + 1);
 		if (!*option)
-			return;
+			return -1;
 	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static struct tep_plugin_option *
@@ -325,7 +326,8 @@ int tep_plugin_add_option(const char *name, const char *val)
 	if (!option_str)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	parse_option_name(&option_str, &plugin);
+	if (parse_option_name(&option_str, &plugin) < 0)
+		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	/* If the option exists, update the val */
 	for (op = trace_plugin_options; op; op = op->next) {