diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
index 67b88b599a538..2e9f5bc45550c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
@@ -2460,7 +2460,7 @@ int cs_etm__process_auxtrace_info(union perf_event *event,
 
 		/* Something went wrong, no need to continue */
 		if (!inode) {
-			err = PTR_ERR(inode);
+			err = -ENOMEM;
 			goto err_free_metadata;
 		}