diff --git a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
index ce61f79dbaae81344e2b41734edea211fcb33e29..d8cd038baed267335891ac87ed4477fc886e5c6e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
@@ -123,6 +123,17 @@ static int perf_pmu__parse_scale(struct perf_pmu_alias *alias, char *dir, char *
 	 */
 	lc = setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, NULL);
 
+	/*
+	 * The lc string may be allocated in static storage,
+	 * so get a dynamic copy to make it survive setlocale
+	 * call below.
+	 */
+	lc = strdup(lc);
+	if (!lc) {
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+		goto error;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * force to C locale to ensure kernel
 	 * scale string is converted correctly.
@@ -135,6 +146,8 @@ static int perf_pmu__parse_scale(struct perf_pmu_alias *alias, char *dir, char *
 	/* restore locale */
 	setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, lc);
 
+	free((char *) lc);
+
 	ret = 0;
 error:
 	close(fd);