1 files changed, 7 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index 3cebc9a8d52e..5fc7bd42c803 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -1276,8 +1276,14 @@ int perf_evlist__prepare_workload(struct perf_evlist *evlist, struct target *tar
                 sigaction(SIGUSR1, &act, NULL);
         }
 
-        if (target__none(target))
+        if (target__none(target)) {
+                if (evlist->threads == NULL) {
+                        fprintf(stderr, "FATAL: evlist->threads need to be set at this point (%s:%d).\n",
+                                __func__, __LINE__);
+                        goto out_close_pipes;
+                }
                 evlist->threads->map[0] = evlist->workload.pid;
+        }
 
         close(child_ready_pipe[1]);
         close(go_pipe[0]);