diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index 5f22423a0230fd4cfaaa57ca827a96ce802ea980..1eca45190360a8359f0102d64f528860ac34c382 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -1135,11 +1135,6 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
         if (!target__none(&opts->target))
                 perf_evlist__enable(top->evlist);
 
-	/* Wait for a minimal set of events before starting the snapshot */
-	perf_evlist__poll(top->evlist, 100);
-
-	perf_top__mmap_read(top);
-
 	ret = -1;
 	if (pthread_create(&thread, NULL, (use_browser > 0 ? display_thread_tui :
 							    display_thread), top)) {
@@ -1157,6 +1152,11 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* Wait for a minimal set of events before starting the snapshot */
+	perf_evlist__poll(top->evlist, 100);
+
+	perf_top__mmap_read(top);
+
 	while (!done) {
 		u64 hits = top->samples;