diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index e065c4a12f58..d1c8cdc6788b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "util/evlist.h"
 #include <subcmd/exec-cmd.h>
 #include "util/machine.h"
+#include "util/path.h"
 #include "util/session.h"
 #include "util/thread.h"
 #include <subcmd/parse-options.h>
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-thread-lookup.c b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-thread-lookup.c
index a5ffb754f8c6..6ea4d8a5d26b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-thread-lookup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-thread-lookup.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "thread_map.h"
 #include "symbol.h"
 #include "thread.h"
+#include "util.h"
 
 #define THREADS 4
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall-all-cpus.c b/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall-all-cpus.c
index b7dece0de42c..1a74dd9fd067 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall-all-cpus.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall-all-cpus.c
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
 /* For the CPU_* macros */
 #include <pthread.h>
 
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 #include <api/fs/fs.h>
 #include <linux/err.h>
+#include <api/fs/tracing_path.h>
 #include "evsel.h"
 #include "tests.h"
 #include "thread_map.h"
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall.c b/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall.c
index 5f0c700b4693..e44506e21ee7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/openat-syscall.c
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <api/fs/tracing_path.h>
 #include <linux/err.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 #include "thread_map.h"
 #include "evsel.h"
 #include "debug.h"
diff --git a/tools/perf/ui/setup.c b/tools/perf/ui/setup.c
index 50d13e58210f..5ea0b40c4fc2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/ui/setup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/ui/setup.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "../util/cache.h"
 #include "../util/debug.h"
 #include "../util/hist.h"
+#include "../util/util.h"
 
 pthread_mutex_t ui__lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 void *perf_gtk_handle;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/build-id.c b/tools/perf/util/build-id.c
index f9ccd053cdf6..b5c4892c2e18 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/build-id.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/build-id.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "tool.h"
 #include "header.h"
 #include "vdso.h"
+#include "path.h"
 #include "probe-file.h"
 #include "strlist.h"
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/counts.c b/tools/perf/util/counts.c
index 83fedd0d22a1..c4af82ab7808 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/counts.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/counts.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include "evsel.h"
 #include "counts.h"
+#include "util.h"
 
 struct perf_counts *perf_counts__new(int ncpus, int nthreads)
 {
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/dso.c b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
index cd061dc1de70..cbfe17f5168a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/dso.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include "path.h"
 #include "symbol.h"
 #include "dso.h"
 #include "machine.h"
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/path.c b/tools/perf/util/path.c
index 7c7630be5a89..50ec3bc87a60 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/path.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/path.c
@@ -11,8 +11,13 @@
  * which is what it's designed for.
  */
 #include "cache.h"
-#include "util.h"
+#include "path.h"
+#include <linux/kernel.h>
 #include <limits.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 static char bad_path[] = "/bad-path/";
 /*
@@ -50,3 +55,24 @@ char *mkpath(const char *fmt, ...)
 		return bad_path;
 	return cleanup_path(pathname);
 }
+
+int path__join(char *bf, size_t size, const char *path1, const char *path2)
+{
+	return scnprintf(bf, size, "%s%s%s", path1, path1[0] ? "/" : "", path2);
+}
+
+int path__join3(char *bf, size_t size, const char *path1, const char *path2, const char *path3)
+{
+	return scnprintf(bf, size, "%s%s%s%s%s", path1, path1[0] ? "/" : "",
+			 path2, path2[0] ? "/" : "", path3);
+}
+
+bool is_regular_file(const char *file)
+{
+	struct stat st;
+
+	if (stat(file, &st))
+		return false;
+
+	return S_ISREG(st.st_mode);
+}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/path.h b/tools/perf/util/path.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9a276a58e3c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/perf/util/path.h
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#ifndef _PERF_PATH_H
+#define _PERF_PATH_H
+
+int path__join(char *bf, size_t size, const char *path1, const char *path2);
+int path__join3(char *bf, size_t size, const char *path1, const char *path2, const char *path3);
+
+bool is_regular_file(const char *file);
+
+#endif /* _PERF_PATH_H */
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
index 68f14d770083..2cb7665e9973 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "strlist.h"
 #include "intlist.h"
 #include "header.h"
+#include "path.h"
 #include "sane_ctype.h"
 
 #include <elf.h>
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
index 5245d2fb1a0a..7acd70fce68e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol.h
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 #include <libgen.h>
 #include "build-id.h"
 #include "event.h"
-#include "util.h"
+#include "path.h"
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBELF_SUPPORT
 #include <libelf.h>
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/unwind-libdw.c b/tools/perf/util/unwind-libdw.c
index 783a53fb7a4e..f90e11a555b2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/unwind-libdw.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/unwind-libdw.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "event.h"
 #include "perf_regs.h"
 #include "callchain.h"
+#include "util.h"
 
 static char *debuginfo_path;
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.c b/tools/perf/util/util.c
index 4fb8ee552a31..64877c6d09b2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.c
@@ -713,16 +713,6 @@ out:
 	return tip;
 }
 
-bool is_regular_file(const char *file)
-{
-	struct stat st;
-
-	if (stat(file, &st))
-		return false;
-
-	return S_ISREG(st.st_mode);
-}
-
 int fetch_current_timestamp(char *buf, size_t sz)
 {
 	struct timeval tv;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.h b/tools/perf/util/util.h
index fa8c2e59a0bc..617965644ff4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.h
@@ -120,21 +120,6 @@ struct parse_tag {
 
 unsigned long parse_tag_value(const char *str, struct parse_tag *tags);
 
-static inline int path__join(char *bf, size_t size,
-			     const char *path1, const char *path2)
-{
-	return scnprintf(bf, size, "%s%s%s", path1, path1[0] ? "/" : "", path2);
-}
-
-static inline int path__join3(char *bf, size_t size,
-			      const char *path1, const char *path2,
-			      const char *path3)
-{
-	return scnprintf(bf, size, "%s%s%s%s%s",
-			 path1, path1[0] ? "/" : "",
-			 path2, path2[0] ? "/" : "", path3);
-}
-
 int perf_event_paranoid(void);
 
 void mem_bswap_64(void *src, int byte_size);
@@ -162,7 +147,6 @@ int fetch_kernel_version(unsigned int *puint,
 #define KVER_PARAM(x)	KVER_VERSION(x), KVER_PATCHLEVEL(x), KVER_SUBLEVEL(x)
 
 const char *perf_tip(const char *dirpath);
-bool is_regular_file(const char *file);
 int fetch_current_timestamp(char *buf, size_t sz);
 
 #ifndef HAVE_SCHED_GETCPU_SUPPORT