diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
index 88f7be3994321f8ef717262909ac6c38853fc691..32e12ecfe9c576767f18a3cb42e6c5dedfc3f048 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
@@ -115,23 +115,19 @@ static int add_cgroup(struct perf_evlist *evlist, char *str)
 			goto found;
 		n++;
 	}
-	if (cgrp->refcnt == 0)
+	if (atomic_read(&cgrp->refcnt) == 0)
 		free(cgrp);
 
 	return -1;
 found:
-	cgrp->refcnt++;
+	atomic_inc(&cgrp->refcnt);
 	counter->cgrp = cgrp;
 	return 0;
 }
 
 void close_cgroup(struct cgroup_sel *cgrp)
 {
-	if (!cgrp)
-		return;
-
-	/* XXX: not reentrant */
-	if (--cgrp->refcnt == 0) {
+	if (cgrp && atomic_dec_and_test(&cgrp->refcnt)) {
 		close(cgrp->fd);
 		zfree(&cgrp->name);
 		free(cgrp);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.h b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.h
index 89acd6debdc5fc06d28889cb95eb30d7af98642f..b4b8cb42fe5e04b7458fe3b57f764b0bda6c18db 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.h
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 #ifndef __CGROUP_H__
 #define __CGROUP_H__
 
+#include <linux/atomic.h>
+
 struct option;
 
 struct cgroup_sel {
 	char *name;
 	int fd;
-	int refcnt;
+	atomic_t refcnt;
 };