diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index 4fb6f726271cd2bed5583feba018f2dc52e69658..10fc7e844872521f1a36e018932ada5c30981115 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
 		param.sched_priority = top->realtime_prio;
 		if (sched_setscheduler(0, SCHED_FIFO, &param)) {
 			ui__error("Could not set realtime priority.\n");
-			goto out_delete;
+			goto out_join;
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -979,6 +979,8 @@ static int __cmd_top(struct perf_top *top)
 	}
 
 	ret = 0;
+out_join:
+	pthread_join(thread, NULL);
 out_delete:
 	perf_session__delete(top->session);
 	top->session = NULL;