diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
index c0cd3cbb602a..732c65008a8a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
@@ -2481,7 +2481,7 @@ static void free_idle_threads(void)
 			if (itr)
 				thread__put(itr->last_thread);
 
-			thread__delete(idle);
+			thread__put(idle);
 		}
 	}