diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c b/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
index eaf9297cc34d..20ea59e59a4b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-kvm.c
@@ -607,11 +607,11 @@ static const char *get_filename_for_perf_kvm(void)
 	const char *filename;
 
 	if (perf_host && !perf_guest)
-		filename = strdup("perf.data.host");
+		filename = "perf.data.host";
 	else if (!perf_host && perf_guest)
-		filename = strdup("perf.data.guest");
+		filename = "perf.data.guest";
 	else
-		filename = strdup("perf.data.kvm");
+		filename = "perf.data.kvm";
 
 	return filename;
 }
@@ -2148,15 +2148,9 @@ int cmd_kvm(int argc, const char **argv)
 	if (!perf_host)
 		perf_guest = 1;
 
-	if (!file_name) {
+	if (!file_name)
 		file_name = get_filename_for_perf_kvm();
 
-		if (!file_name) {
-			pr_err("Failed to allocate memory for filename\n");
-			return -ENOMEM;
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (strlen(argv[0]) > 2 && strstarts("record", argv[0]))
 		return __cmd_record(file_name, argc, argv);
 	else if (strlen(argv[0]) > 2 && strstarts("report", argv[0]))