diff --git a/tools/perf/util/session.c b/tools/perf/util/session.c
index 54cf163347f75..2e61dd6a3574e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/session.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/session.c
@@ -1249,6 +1249,9 @@ static void dump_read(struct perf_evsel *evsel, union perf_event *event)
 	       evsel ? perf_evsel__name(evsel) : "FAIL",
 	       event->read.value);
 
+	if (!evsel)
+		return;
+
 	read_format = evsel->attr.read_format;
 
 	if (read_format & PERF_FORMAT_TOTAL_TIME_ENABLED)