diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
index b73fb78230486005f6017238b0682f074086065e..050dea9f1e884d0203da34826c9cb0b8380e08a5 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ static int add_cgroup(struct evlist *evlist, const char *str)
 
 static void cgroup__delete(struct cgroup *cgroup)
 {
-	close(cgroup->fd);
+	if (cgroup->fd >= 0)
+		close(cgroup->fd);
 	zfree(&cgroup->name);
 	free(cgroup);
 }