diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
index 822ba915d144de828347936bb2c1514943266f36..8b2c099e750ae6ec5c309c0c84c4fb284dd81848 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
@@ -939,6 +939,9 @@ static int cs_etm__flush(struct cs_etm_queue *etmq)
 		err = cs_etm__synth_instruction_sample(
 			etmq, addr,
 			etmq->period_instructions);
+		if (err)
+			return err;
+
 		etmq->period_instructions = 0;
 
 		/*