diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index 8b19e7a1e881..963d63dde457 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -447,8 +447,10 @@ static int __perf_evlist__mmap(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
 	evlist->mmap[idx].mask = mask;
 	evlist->mmap[idx].base = mmap(NULL, evlist->mmap_len, prot,
 				      MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
-	if (evlist->mmap[idx].base == MAP_FAILED)
+	if (evlist->mmap[idx].base == MAP_FAILED) {
+		evlist->mmap[idx].base = NULL;
 		return -1;
+	}
 
 	perf_evlist__add_pollfd(evlist, fd);
 	return 0;