diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/event.h b/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/event.h
index 9043dc72b5d6..fdced574c889 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/event.h
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/event.h
@@ -8,7 +8,14 @@
 #include <linux/bpf.h>
 #include <sys/types.h> /* pid_t */
 
-#define event_contains(obj, mem) ((obj).header.size > offsetof(typeof(obj), mem))
+/*
+ * Verify the full field fits within the event, not just its start offset.
+ * Only valid for fixed-size scalar fields — for trailing arrays like
+ * filename[PATH_MAX], sizeof() evaluates to the declared maximum, not
+ * the actual string length, so this would spuriously return false.
+ */
+#define event_contains(obj, mem) \
+	((obj).header.size >= offsetof(typeof(obj), mem) + sizeof((obj).mem))
 
 struct perf_record_mmap {
 	struct perf_event_header header;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/arm-spe.c b/tools/perf/util/arm-spe.c
index 31f05f467810..552f063f126e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/arm-spe.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/arm-spe.c
@@ -2002,7 +2002,7 @@ int arm_spe_process_auxtrace_info(union perf_event *event,
 	spe->tc.time_mult = tc->time_mult;
 	spe->tc.time_zero = tc->time_zero;
 
-	if (event_contains(*tc, time_cycles)) {
+	if (event_contains(*tc, cap_user_time_short)) {
 		spe->tc.time_cycles = tc->time_cycles;
 		spe->tc.time_mask = tc->time_mask;
 		spe->tc.cap_user_time_zero = tc->cap_user_time_zero;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
index 6ec48de29441..40c6ddfa8c8d 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
@@ -3514,7 +3514,7 @@ int cs_etm__process_auxtrace_info_full(union perf_event *event,
 	etm->tc.time_shift = tc->time_shift;
 	etm->tc.time_mult = tc->time_mult;
 	etm->tc.time_zero = tc->time_zero;
-	if (event_contains(*tc, time_cycles)) {
+	if (event_contains(*tc, cap_user_time_short)) {
 		etm->tc.time_cycles = tc->time_cycles;
 		etm->tc.time_mask = tc->time_mask;
 		etm->tc.cap_user_time_zero = tc->cap_user_time_zero;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/jitdump.c b/tools/perf/util/jitdump.c
index 52e6ffac2b3e..18fd84a82153 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/jitdump.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/jitdump.c
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ static uint64_t convert_timestamp(struct jit_buf_desc *jd, uint64_t timestamp)
 	 * checks the event size and assigns these extended fields if these
 	 * fields are contained in the event.
 	 */
-	if (event_contains(*time_conv, time_cycles)) {
+	if (event_contains(*time_conv, cap_user_time_short)) {
 		tc.time_cycles	       = time_conv->time_cycles;
 		tc.time_mask	       = time_conv->time_mask;
 		tc.cap_user_time_zero  = time_conv->cap_user_time_zero;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/tsc.c b/tools/perf/util/tsc.c
index 511a517ce613..ebf289bf6b9d 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/tsc.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/tsc.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ size_t perf_event__fprintf_time_conv(union perf_event *event, FILE *fp)
 	 * when supported cap_user_time_short, for backward compatibility,
 	 * prints the extended fields only if they are contained in the event.
 	 */
-	if (event_contains(*tc, time_cycles)) {
+	if (event_contains(*tc, cap_user_time_short)) {
 		ret += fprintf(fp, "... Time Cycles     %" PRI_lu64 "\n",
 			       tc->time_cycles);
 		ret += fprintf(fp, "... Time Mask       %#" PRI_lx64 "\n",