diff --git a/tools/perf/util/metricgroup.c b/tools/perf/util/metricgroup.c
index a16f60da06ab..381a619a80b9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/metricgroup.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/metricgroup.c
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ static int metricgroup__setup_events(struct list_head *groups,
 		if (!evsel) {
 			pr_debug("Cannot resolve %s: %s\n",
 					eg->metric_name, eg->metric_expr);
+			free(metric_events);
 			continue;
 		}
 		for (i = 0; metric_events[i]; i++)
@@ -184,11 +185,13 @@ static int metricgroup__setup_events(struct list_head *groups,
 		me = metricgroup__lookup(metric_events_list, evsel, true);
 		if (!me) {
 			ret = -ENOMEM;
+			free(metric_events);
 			break;
 		}
 		expr = malloc(sizeof(struct metric_expr));
 		if (!expr) {
 			ret = -ENOMEM;
+			free(metric_events);
 			break;
 		}
 		expr->metric_expr = eg->metric_expr;