diff --git a/tools/perf/util/target.c b/tools/perf/util/target.c
index 8cdcf4641c51de6a1f5a4df597280be97833c07e..21c4d9b23c249e6e59db3ca8738b69444de2e8c8 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/target.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/target.c
@@ -122,11 +122,7 @@ int target__strerror(struct target *target, int errnum,
 	BUG_ON(buflen == 0);
 
 	if (errnum >= 0) {
-		const char *err = str_error_r(errnum, buf, buflen);
-
-		if (err != buf)
-			scnprintf(buf, buflen, "%s", err);
-
+		str_error_r(errnum, buf, buflen);
 		return 0;
 	}