diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 5149b41e63d187e0444d4efde1f9cc5fb104707f..b7f5e438276b3d7b11a0fcf9621af52a1b974873 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -970,7 +970,6 @@ int cmd_record(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 	err = __cmd_record(&record, argc, argv);
 
 	perf_evlist__munmap(rec->evlist);
-	perf_evlist__close(rec->evlist);
 out_symbol_exit:
 	symbol__exit();
 	return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index f4ddd14b8a9bfc9c3833383713a29a0a4f8aeca5..aa8a5f46c3610af8d7e8a46edf5fd03a6eb4a2dd 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -1909,7 +1909,7 @@ static int trace__run(struct trace *trace, int argc, const char **argv)
 	err = perf_evlist__mmap(evlist, trace->opts.mmap_pages, false);
 	if (err < 0) {
 		fprintf(trace->output, "Couldn't mmap the events: %s\n", strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_evlist;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__enable(evlist);
@@ -1994,8 +1994,6 @@ static int trace__run(struct trace *trace, int argc, const char **argv)
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_evlist:
-	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 out:
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
index ddbc7756620c490d108d38edf6f37a84d376003d..2c0ce723749f4597b298d9552826193e584411f4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
@@ -541,7 +541,6 @@ static int do_test_code_reading(bool try_kcore)
 out_err:
 	if (evlist) {
 		perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-		perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	} else {
 		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c b/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
index f9bc1fcd17cd1b22acf0ff158f1696546181b129..dd1c677510bd1cb711fdd6f102dfc33c94fc997f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ int test__keep_tracking(void)
 	if (evlist) {
 		perf_evlist__disable(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-		perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	} else {
 		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
index bbb334d2a8646c60ca4d0007606f4c9fec83d2c1..111dd4a917ad7c3d277e2520798eaba84cf09e93 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ int test__basic_mmap(void)
 		evsels[i] = perf_evsel__newtp("syscalls", name);
 		if (evsels[i] == NULL) {
 			pr_debug("perf_evsel__new\n");
-			goto out_free_evlist;
+			goto out_delete_evlist;
 		}
 
 		evsels[i]->attr.wakeup_events = 1;
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ int test__basic_mmap(void)
 			pr_debug("failed to open counter: %s, "
 				 "tweak /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid?\n",
 				 strerror(errno));
-			goto out_close_fd;
+			goto out_delete_evlist;
 		}
 
 		nr_events[i] = 0;
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ int test__basic_mmap(void)
 	if (perf_evlist__mmap(evlist, 128, true) < 0) {
 		pr_debug("failed to mmap events: %d (%s)\n", errno,
 			 strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_fd;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nsyscalls; ++i)
@@ -138,10 +138,7 @@ int test__basic_mmap(void)
 
 out_munmap:
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_fd:
-	for (i = 0; i < nsyscalls; ++i)
-		perf_evsel__close_fd(evsels[i], 1, threads->nr);
-out_free_evlist:
+out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	cpus	= NULL;
 	threads = NULL;
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/open-syscall-tp-fields.c b/tools/perf/tests/open-syscall-tp-fields.c
index 595b577172a6e7a323d6cdcc72b11b2a91dd3802..0a00638a9ebb560c93991a87e48b343c27a11c4a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/open-syscall-tp-fields.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/open-syscall-tp-fields.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ int test__syscall_open_tp_fields(void)
 	err = perf_evlist__mmap(evlist, UINT_MAX, false);
 	if (err < 0) {
 		pr_debug("perf_evlist__mmap: %s\n", strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_evlist;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__enable(evlist);
@@ -112,8 +112,6 @@ int test__syscall_open_tp_fields(void)
 	err = 0;
 out_munmap:
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_evlist:
-	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 out:
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/perf-record.c b/tools/perf/tests/perf-record.c
index 266da9d413002c62501daa264806afb5a367651e..682978e66efeb905ba9f8a62dea8f5b8315d00e8 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/perf-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/perf-record.c
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ int test__PERF_RECORD(void)
 	err = perf_evlist__mmap(evlist, opts.mmap_pages, false);
 	if (err < 0) {
 		pr_debug("perf_evlist__mmap: %s\n", strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_evlist;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -304,8 +304,6 @@ int test__PERF_RECORD(void)
 	}
 out_err:
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_evlist:
-	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 out:
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/perf-time-to-tsc.c b/tools/perf/tests/perf-time-to-tsc.c
index 97d08fff1f8d53ec22bd366a82fe3920ab24d49b..3d50f2d2a4d5d613ed414f052190a8a73fbc65b9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/perf-time-to-tsc.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/perf-time-to-tsc.c
@@ -167,7 +167,6 @@ int test__perf_time_to_tsc(void)
 	if (evlist) {
 		perf_evlist__disable(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-		perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/sw-clock.c b/tools/perf/tests/sw-clock.c
index 266d38127ba6c9efc315618e647148ba69507697..b366f0edca793082892b803f020d23e4cf61a05f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/sw-clock.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/sw-clock.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ static int __test__sw_clock_freq(enum perf_sw_ids clock_id)
 	if (err < 0) {
 		pr_debug("failed to mmap event: %d (%s)\n", errno,
 			 strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_evlist;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__enable(evlist);
@@ -107,8 +107,6 @@ static int __test__sw_clock_freq(enum perf_sw_ids clock_id)
 
 out_unmap_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_evlist:
-	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/task-exit.c b/tools/perf/tests/task-exit.c
index fdeb2aa46a50ed47e39eed514c67937a9d994039..5511a0a929cdcdba7095e332d94c665a775c46be 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/task-exit.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/task-exit.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ int test__task_exit(void)
 	if (perf_evlist__mmap(evlist, 128, true) < 0) {
 		pr_debug("failed to mmap events: %d (%s)\n", errno,
 			 strerror(errno));
-		goto out_close_evlist;
+		goto out_delete_evlist;
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__start_workload(evlist);
@@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ int test__task_exit(void)
 	}
 
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
-out_close_evlist:
-	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 out_delete_evlist:
 	perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index 143eaf05178f10414a15fad82bcd9c26ac69df13..a083bdc4680e8f56a88f843eda501dc00cb50fa7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ void perf_evlist__exit(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 
 void perf_evlist__delete(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 {
+	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
 	cpu_map__delete(evlist->cpus);
 	thread_map__delete(evlist->threads);
 	evlist->cpus = NULL;