diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.c b/tools/perf/util/util.c
index 01c9433de7ef..eab077ad6ca9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.c
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ struct strlist *lsdir(const char *name,
 
 	list = strlist__new(NULL, NULL);
 	if (!list) {
-		errno = -ENOMEM;
+		errno = ENOMEM;
 		goto out;
 	}