diff --git a/tools/perf/util/map.c b/tools/perf/util/map.c
index ee1dd687a262..3b97513f0e77 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/map.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/map.c
@@ -386,7 +386,8 @@ struct symbol *map_groups__find_symbol(struct map_groups *mg,
 {
 	struct map *map = map_groups__find(mg, type, addr);
 
-	if (map != NULL) {
+	/* Ensure map is loaded before using map->map_ip */
+	if (map != NULL && map__load(map, filter) >= 0) {
 		if (mapp != NULL)
 			*mapp = map;
 		return map__find_symbol(map, map->map_ip(map, addr), filter);