diff --git a/tools/perf/util/thread.c b/tools/perf/util/thread.c
index 873ab505ca80..590793cc5142 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/thread.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/thread.c
@@ -214,14 +214,24 @@ struct comm *thread__comm(const struct thread *thread)
 
 struct comm *thread__exec_comm(const struct thread *thread)
 {
-	struct comm *comm, *last = NULL;
+	struct comm *comm, *last = NULL, *second_last = NULL;
 
 	list_for_each_entry(comm, &thread->comm_list, list) {
 		if (comm->exec)
 			return comm;
+		second_last = last;
 		last = comm;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * 'last' with no start time might be the parent's comm of a synthesized
+	 * thread (created by processing a synthesized fork event). For a main
+	 * thread, that is very probably wrong. Prefer a later comm to avoid
+	 * that case.
+	 */
+	if (second_last && !last->start && thread->pid_ == thread->tid)
+		return second_last;
+
 	return last;
 }