diff --git a/tools/perf/util/machine.c b/tools/perf/util/machine.c
index 0e5fea95d596..c73e1fc12e53 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/machine.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/machine.c
@@ -496,18 +496,6 @@ struct process_args {
 	u64 start;
 };
 
-static int symbol__in_kernel(void *arg, const char *name,
-			     char type __maybe_unused, u64 start)
-{
-	struct process_args *args = arg;
-
-	if (strchr(name, '['))
-		return 0;
-
-	args->start = start;
-	return 1;
-}
-
 static void machine__get_kallsyms_filename(struct machine *machine, char *buf,
 					   size_t bufsz)
 {
@@ -517,27 +505,41 @@ static void machine__get_kallsyms_filename(struct machine *machine, char *buf,
 		scnprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/proc/kallsyms", machine->root_dir);
 }
 
-/* Figure out the start address of kernel map from /proc/kallsyms */
-static u64 machine__get_kernel_start_addr(struct machine *machine)
+const char *ref_reloc_sym_names[] = {"_text", "_stext", NULL};
+
+/* Figure out the start address of kernel map from /proc/kallsyms.
+ * Returns the name of the start symbol in *symbol_name. Pass in NULL as
+ * symbol_name if it's not that important.
+ */
+static u64 machine__get_kernel_start_addr(struct machine *machine,
+					  const char **symbol_name)
 {
 	char filename[PATH_MAX];
-	struct process_args args;
+	int i;
+	const char *name;
+	u64 addr = 0;
 
 	machine__get_kallsyms_filename(machine, filename, PATH_MAX);
 
 	if (symbol__restricted_filename(filename, "/proc/kallsyms"))
 		return 0;
 
-	if (kallsyms__parse(filename, &args, symbol__in_kernel) <= 0)
-		return 0;
+	for (i = 0; (name = ref_reloc_sym_names[i]) != NULL; i++) {
+		addr = kallsyms__get_function_start(filename, name);
+		if (addr)
+			break;
+	}
 
-	return args.start;
+	if (symbol_name)
+		*symbol_name = name;
+
+	return addr;
 }
 
 int __machine__create_kernel_maps(struct machine *machine, struct dso *kernel)
 {
 	enum map_type type;
-	u64 start = machine__get_kernel_start_addr(machine);
+	u64 start = machine__get_kernel_start_addr(machine, NULL);
 
 	for (type = 0; type < MAP__NR_TYPES; ++type) {
 		struct kmap *kmap;
@@ -852,23 +854,11 @@ static int machine__create_modules(struct machine *machine)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-const char *ref_reloc_sym_names[] = {"_text", "_stext", NULL};
-
 int machine__create_kernel_maps(struct machine *machine)
 {
 	struct dso *kernel = machine__get_kernel(machine);
-	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	const char *name;
-	u64 addr = 0;
-	int i;
-
-	machine__get_kallsyms_filename(machine, filename, PATH_MAX);
-
-	for (i = 0; (name = ref_reloc_sym_names[i]) != NULL; i++) {
-		addr = kallsyms__get_function_start(filename, name);
-		if (addr)
-			break;
-	}
+	u64 addr = machine__get_kernel_start_addr(machine, &name);
 	if (!addr)
 		return -1;