diff --git a/tools/perf/util/header.c b/tools/perf/util/header.c
index f6a929e74981..0866bcdb5e8e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/header.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/header.c
@@ -270,11 +270,15 @@ int build_id_cache__add_s(const char *sbuild_id, const char *debugdir,
 			  const char *name, bool is_kallsyms)
 {
 	const size_t size = PATH_MAX;
-	char *realname = realpath(name, NULL),
-	     *filename = malloc(size),
+	char *realname, *filename = malloc(size),
 	     *linkname = malloc(size), *targetname;
 	int len, err = -1;
 
+	if (is_kallsyms)
+		realname = (char *)name;
+	else
+		realname = realpath(name, NULL);
+
 	if (realname == NULL || filename == NULL || linkname == NULL)
 		goto out_free;
 
@@ -306,7 +310,8 @@ int build_id_cache__add_s(const char *sbuild_id, const char *debugdir,
 	if (symlink(targetname, linkname) == 0)
 		err = 0;
 out_free:
-	free(realname);
+	if (!is_kallsyms)
+		free(realname);
 	free(filename);
 	free(linkname);
 	return err;