diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-diff.c b/tools/perf/builtin-diff.c
index 8c5c11ca8c539d5292d9ceb3524754e4e06ead49..25114c9a6801d65d822e6f6e082e6e70b1144aab 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-diff.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-diff.c
@@ -1142,6 +1142,11 @@ static int data_init(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 int cmd_diff(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
 {
+	int ret = hists__init();
+
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
+
 	perf_config(perf_default_config, NULL);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, options, diff_usage, 0);