diff --git a/tools/perf/util/synthetic-events.c b/tools/perf/util/synthetic-events.c
index a661b122d9d8..9d4aa951eaa6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/synthetic-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/synthetic-events.c
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ int perf_tool__process_synth_event(struct perf_tool *tool,
 static int perf_event__get_comm_ids(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len,
 				    pid_t *tgid, pid_t *ppid)
 {
-	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	char bf[4096];
 	int fd;
 	size_t size = 0;
@@ -81,11 +80,11 @@ static int perf_event__get_comm_ids(pid_t pid, char *comm, size_t len,
 	*tgid = -1;
 	*ppid = -1;
 
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "/proc/%d/status", pid);
+	snprintf(bf, sizeof(bf), "/proc/%d/status", pid);
 
-	fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
+	fd = open(bf, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
-		pr_debug("couldn't open %s\n", filename);
+		pr_debug("couldn't open %s\n", bf);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -281,9 +280,9 @@ int perf_event__synthesize_mmap_events(struct perf_tool *tool,
 				       struct machine *machine,
 				       bool mmap_data)
 {
-	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	FILE *fp;
 	unsigned long long t;
+	char bf[BUFSIZ];
 	bool truncation = false;
 	unsigned long long timeout = proc_map_timeout * 1000000ULL;
 	int rc = 0;
@@ -293,15 +292,15 @@ int perf_event__synthesize_mmap_events(struct perf_tool *tool,
 	if (machine__is_default_guest(machine))
 		return 0;
 
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/proc/%d/task/%d/maps",
-		 machine->root_dir, pid, pid);
+	snprintf(bf, sizeof(bf), "%s/proc/%d/task/%d/maps",
+		machine->root_dir, pid, pid);
 
-	fp = fopen(filename, "r");
+	fp = fopen(bf, "r");
 	if (fp == NULL) {
 		/*
 		 * We raced with a task exiting - just return:
 		 */
-		pr_debug("couldn't open %s\n", filename);
+		pr_debug("couldn't open %s\n", bf);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -309,7 +308,6 @@ int perf_event__synthesize_mmap_events(struct perf_tool *tool,
 	t = rdclock();
 
 	while (1) {
-		char bf[BUFSIZ];
 		char prot[5];
 		char execname[PATH_MAX];
 		char anonstr[] = "//anon";
@@ -321,10 +319,10 @@ int perf_event__synthesize_mmap_events(struct perf_tool *tool,
 			break;
 
 		if ((rdclock() - t) > timeout) {
-			pr_warning("Reading %s time out. "
+			pr_warning("Reading %s/proc/%d/task/%d/maps time out. "
 				   "You may want to increase "
 				   "the time limit by --proc-map-timeout\n",
-				   filename);
+				   machine->root_dir, pid, pid);
 			truncation = true;
 			goto out;
 		}