diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index e03e7bc8205e..c12bd476c6f7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -85,10 +85,19 @@ int perf_evlist__add_default(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 	struct perf_evsel *evsel = perf_evsel__new(&attr, 0);
 
 	if (evsel == NULL)
-		return -ENOMEM;
+		goto error;
+
+	/* use strdup() because free(evsel) assumes name is allocated */
+	evsel->name = strdup("cycles");
+	if (!evsel->name)
+		goto error_free;
 
 	perf_evlist__add(evlist, evsel);
 	return 0;
+error_free:
+	perf_evsel__delete(evsel);
+error:
+	return -ENOMEM;
 }
 
 void perf_evlist__disable(struct perf_evlist *evlist)