diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-evlist.c b/tools/perf/builtin-evlist.c
index e52d77e..acd78dc 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-evlist.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
 int cmd_evlist(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __used)
 {
 	struct perf_attr_details details = { .verbose = false, };
-	const char *input_name;
+	const char *input_name = NULL;
 	const struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING('i', "input", &input_name, "file",
 			    "Input file name"),