diff --git a/tools/proftool.c b/tools/proftool.c
index 9ce7a7796e..ddf870f66e 100644
--- a/tools/proftool.c
+++ b/tools/proftool.c
@@ -432,9 +432,10 @@ static int read_trace_config(FILE *fin)
 
 		err = regcomp(&line->regex, tok, REG_NOSUB);
 		if (err) {
+			int r = regex_report_error(&line->regex, err,
+						   "compile", tok);
 			free(line);
-			return regex_report_error(&line->regex, err, "compile",
-						  tok);
+			return r;
 		}
 
 		/* link this new one to the end of the list */