diff --git a/tools/perf/ui/browser.c b/tools/perf/ui/browser.c
index 3eb3edb307a4814d1d11346f94117d3c006e87b7..9e47ccbe07f16acfb23ea301b7a510bc09b66dcd 100644
--- a/tools/perf/ui/browser.c
+++ b/tools/perf/ui/browser.c
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@ static int ui_browser__color_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 			break;
 
 		*bg = '\0';
-		while (isspace(*++bg));
+		bg = ltrim(++bg);
 		ui_browser__colorsets[i].bg = bg;
 		ui_browser__colorsets[i].fg = fg;
 		return 0;