diff --git a/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c b/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
index fe7a27d67d2b..e9e1c03f927d 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ void parse_proc_kallsyms(struct pevent *pevent,
 	char *next = NULL;
 	char *addr_str;
 	char *mod;
-	char *fmt;
+	char *fmt = NULL;
 
 	line = strtok_r(file, "\n", &next);
 	while (line) {