diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
index df3c73e9dea4..9954b069b3ca 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/event-parse.c
@@ -265,10 +265,10 @@ static int add_new_comm(struct pevent *pevent, const char *comm, int pid)
 		errno = ENOMEM;
 		return -1;
 	}
+	pevent->cmdlines = cmdlines;
 
 	cmdlines[pevent->cmdline_count].comm = strdup(comm);
 	if (!cmdlines[pevent->cmdline_count].comm) {
-		free(cmdlines);
 		errno = ENOMEM;
 		return -1;
 	}
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ static int add_new_comm(struct pevent *pevent, const char *comm, int pid)
 		pevent->cmdline_count++;
 
 	qsort(cmdlines, pevent->cmdline_count, sizeof(*cmdlines), cmdline_cmp);
-	pevent->cmdlines = cmdlines;
 
 	return 0;
 }