diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index b7cbe4bcd136b..56651d666480c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -3151,13 +3151,8 @@ static void evlist__free_syscall_tp_fields(struct evlist *evlist)
 	struct evsel *evsel;
 
 	evlist__for_each_entry(evlist, evsel) {
-		struct evsel_trace *et = evsel->priv;
-
-		if (!et || !evsel->tp_format || strcmp(evsel->tp_format->system, "syscalls"))
-			continue;
-
-		zfree(&et->fmt);
-		free(et);
+		evsel_trace__delete(evsel->priv);
+		evsel->priv = NULL;
 	}
 }