diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/bench/parse.c b/tools/power/cpupower/bench/parse.c
index e63dc11fa3a53..48e25be6e1635 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/bench/parse.c
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/bench/parse.c
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ FILE *prepare_output(const char *dirname)
 struct config *prepare_default_config()
 {
 	struct config *config = malloc(sizeof(struct config));
+	if (!config) {
+		perror("malloc");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	dprintf("loading defaults\n");