diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index 0bd9d01c0df9..3ecc31375f90 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -2173,13 +2173,10 @@ static void thread__update_stats(struct thread *thread, struct thread_trace *ttr
 
 	stats = inode->priv;
 	if (stats == NULL) {
-		stats = malloc(sizeof(*stats));
+		stats = zalloc(sizeof(*stats));
 		if (stats == NULL)
 			return;
 
-		stats->nr_failures = 0;
-		stats->max_errno   = 0;
-		stats->errnos	   = NULL;
 		init_stats(&stats->stats);
 		inode->priv = stats;
 	}