diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
index 40720150ccd80670e49285d3a0a49c2d184b45e3..789962565c9c5aa40cc545a8dc770b838df3cdff 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-stat.c
@@ -2497,8 +2497,8 @@ static int add_default_attributes(void)
 				fprintf(stderr,
 					"Cannot set up top down events %s: %d\n",
 					str, err);
-				free(str);
 				parse_events_print_error(&errinfo, str);
+				free(str);
 				return -1;
 			}
 		} else {