diff --git a/tools/perf/util/util.c b/tools/perf/util/util.c
index 25849434f0a4..2c2a5c449ffd 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/util.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/util.c
@@ -419,11 +419,21 @@ int perf_tip(char **strp, const char *dirpath)
 
 char *perf_exe(char *buf, int len)
 {
-	int n = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buf, len);
+	int n;
+
+	if (len <= 0)
+		return buf;
+
+	n = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buf, len - 1);
 	if (n > 0) {
 		buf[n] = 0;
 		return buf;
 	}
+	if (len < (int)sizeof("perf")) {
+		buf[0] = '\0';
+		return buf;
+	}
+
 	return strcpy(buf, "perf");
 }