diff --git a/tools/perf/util/strfilter.c b/tools/perf/util/strfilter.c
index 2c3a2904ebcd..90ea2b209cbb 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/strfilter.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/strfilter.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <linux/ctype.h>
+#include <linux/string.h>
 
 /* Operators */
 static const char *OP_and	= "&";	/* Logical AND */
@@ -37,8 +38,7 @@ static const char *get_token(const char *s, const char **e)
 {
 	const char *p;
 
-	while (isspace(*s))	/* Skip spaces */
-		s++;
+	s = skip_spaces(s);
 
 	if (*s == '\0') {
 		p = s;