diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
index 6ce291f45f2dd87710191a078d055ffc3fb4f10a..4dd52feb1ae63e764f26d92879cf036d25eb195d 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cgroup.c
@@ -144,12 +144,17 @@ static int add_cgroup(struct perf_evlist *evlist, char *str)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static void cgroup__delete(struct cgroup *cgroup)
+{
+	close(cgroup->fd);
+	zfree(&cgroup->name);
+	free(cgroup);
+}
+
 void close_cgroup(struct cgroup *cgrp)
 {
 	if (cgrp && refcount_dec_and_test(&cgrp->refcnt)) {
-		close(cgrp->fd);
-		zfree(&cgrp->name);
-		free(cgrp);
+		cgroup__delete(cgrp);
 	}
 }